Legend 2010: Avilux Ignis
by fleets
Summary: Gale Engst was a relatively average teen in New Jersey until a strange kid named Link declared he was the reincarnation of Vaati, the Wind Mage who'd lived over 8000 years ago. So begins their story. Slight AU, rated for language. Full details in profile.
1. The Life of Gale Engst

fleets: IT'S HERE! The first chapter. Guys, I'm excited. Enjoy.

disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda belongs to Nintendo. All other original ideas such as Vaati's modern concept and minor OCs belong to me. Please do not use without permission. Thanks.

disclaimer2: I am also aware that albino people do not necessarily have red eyes. For the purposes of this story, let's pretend Gale's albinism leads to really awesome super crimson eyes XD

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**Chapter 1: The Life of Gale Engst**

_I'm about to tell you an extraordinary tale about an extraordinary adventure. It's about legends, spirits, deities, and sorcery. Now I see you rolling your eyes, thinking, no doubt, that I am about to tell you something from a children's fantasy novel. Oh no, that wouldn't make this story interesting and thought provoking – entertaining, perhaps, but not interesting. Because you see, this story I am about to tell you didn't occur in the distant past, but a few years ago. Yes, only a few years ago! In the year 2010 there was a teenaged boy right around sixteen years, and starting his junior year of high school. His name was Gale Engst: a snappy, arrogant teenager who didn't really seem to have a direction in life. _

_But the story doesn't begin with the Engst boy, oh no. It begins much, much earlier. _

_It begins with an old legend…_

XXXXXXXXX

Footsteps scampered across the damp leaves of the woods, accompanied by heavy breathing. A teenaged boy in a worn tunic the color of the forest gasped for breath as he ran frantically after a giggling shadow. Shades of green blurred past him as he ran, but the only thing his cool blue eyes were focused on was the lanky little creature with a straw hat. It looked like an ordinary boy except there was a certain puppet-like quality about him, and it had a broad grin on its face as it whistled a lively tune while running away.

"Skull Kid! Give that back!" the teen cried. The fleeing Skull Kid only turned his head and snickered while he waved an old ocarina in his hand.

"Only if you catch me!"

The two ran deeper into the woods and the specks of light that filtered between the leaves dotted their faces. Finally, Skull Kid scampered up a tree and swung around on one of the branches. His pursuer hunched over just beneath Skull Kid and placed his hands on his knees, catching his breath.

"Awww, tired already?" Skull Kid asked with disappointment. The teen muttered something and leaned against the tree trunk for a quick rest. "But that's no fun." The sprite tossed the stolen ocarina up and down in his hand. After a while, he grinned and jumped down onto one of the lower branches. The teen looked up to see two bright golden orbs watching him curiously. The thief grinned. "Why do you want this so badly?"

"It's a very special ocarina. It's not some toy to fool around with." He eyed the branch Skull Kid was perched on, wondering how to catch him. "Please give it back."

Skull Kid considered the teen for a while, and then sighed and shook his head a little dejectedly. "Oh fine. You're not so fun after all."

The teen relaxed in relief.

"But let me play one song on it before I give it back. I deserve that much."

The teen shot up in alarm. "No! You can't do that!"

"Pffft. You couldn't catch me. I can do whatever I want," Skull Kid huffed. He skipped around on the branch a little and gave him a taunting wave before he began to blow a tune. It was an eerily soothing song, and as soon as the melody began to play something odd began to occur. It looked as though Skull Kid was disappearing.

With surprising speed, the teen jumped for the branch that Skull Kid was on and swung onto it with his hands. Just before he fell from losing his grip, he managed to catch the grinning boy's ankles.

"Hey! Lemme go!"

Those were the last words that were heard in the forest that day before the two vanished without a trace, an eerie tune dimming down to an echo in the background.

XXXXXXXXX

Eight thousand years later – 2010, Ariko, NJ

_Rrriiinng!_

"Class dismissed! The first draft of your persuasive writing assignment will be due next Thursday, and I expect everyone to come prepared to talk about their paper. Don't think you can bring in something mediocre just because it's a first draft. Oh and, I would like to see Opal and Gale please."

A silver haired teen made a face as he heard his name on his way out the classroom door. He smirked at some of the other students who were sniggering at him, no doubt because they had heard interesting stories about his battles with teachers. Hands stuffed in his dark grey sweatshirt and lazily walking over to the teacher's desk with his baggy pants brushing the floor, Gale Engst arched his eyebrows at Mrs. Hemmer, his English teacher. The short-statured woman in her fifties usually smiled amicably and displayed a cheerful personality, but today Gale was amused to see the stumpy woman flustered and upset.

Gale was just one of those students that didn't sit well with Mrs. Hemmer. She labeled him as "the trouble student." She tried to ignore the challenging, mocking gaze from his albino red eyes. "I was wondering what you thought you had accomplished with this," she handed up a sheet of paper with Gale's name, date, and section number on the top right hand corner. Everything else was a blank. "I'm pretty sure you were supposed to write a short essay describing yourself. The whole purpose of the assignment was to practice descriptive writing and to learn more about your classmates at the same time. Did I miss anything, Mr. Engst?"

The girl standing next to him giggled. Her dark black hair was tied in a punkish ponytail and she had streaked some parts of it with navy highlights. Mrs. Hemmer gave her a warning glance before she turned her attention back to Gale. "Well?"

Gale twitched his head to the right so that the bangs that angled over half of his face moved out of his eyes. "Well Mrs. Hemmer, you missed a lot of things. I'm surprised you didn't understand what I was getting at. Do you mind if I explain?"

"Please do," she replied as patiently as possible.

"The blank sheet of paper describes more about me than anything I could have written in words. It describes my physical appearance – as a pure albino, I am the whitest guy on the planet. If I was half-albino, I would have settled with manila paper because that has a slightly yellowish tint."

Mrs. Hemmer began to feel tired.

"As a growing teenager, I am at the most dynamic part of my life. All teens explore who they are and what they want to become, and they are constantly changing. They are versatile. The blank sheet is like me because it is still in the stages where it can become anything, and no one knows what it's going to become. Will it become a part of a tragic novel or will it be poetic? No one knows."

At this point, Gale smiled cheerfully. "Lastly, I think this blank sheet of paper captures my personality perfectly. It showed everyone today what an asshole I am, and that if there is something I don't feel like doing I won't do it. In terms of being descriptive and showing everyone what kind of person I am, I think my homework succeeded beautifully."

Oh yes. Mrs. Hemmer had heard a lot about Gale Engst from other teachers. He was always on the border between failing and passing, and it wasn't because he was stupid. In fact, he was probably incredibly bright considering he was always had one of the highest scores when it came to tests, and she had to admit Gale's little explanation about his blank assignment was clever. That was the thing though – he hardly ever did his assignments because he didn't feel like doing them.

Mrs. Hemmer sighed. "Gale, I'm going to give you a chance this time because it's only the first week of classes, but after this, no more chances! Write down what you just told me now and hand it in by tomorrow morning, is that clear?"

Gale shrugged. "Will do."

"And Opal, I also wanted to speak to you about the assignment. Do you have anything to say about this?" The teacher held up another sheet of paper. This time, there were words on it but the content… "Did you have trouble with the assignment?"

Gale leaned a little closer to the assignment Mrs. Hemmer had held up to see what Opal had written. After reading the first sentence he discovered why she had been called up as well.

"Um… I wrote the best thing I could write descriptively," the girl explained as she gave her best 'I tried' smile. Mrs. Hemmer didn't seem to buy it.

"I couldn't understand a word you wrote."

"It's about quantum tunneling and the possible application of Schrodinger's wave equation on larger objects."

Gale snickered. He'd heard something like this from Opal before when they had been called up to "explain themselves" to teachers. Since middle school, both of them had been consistent in giving trouble to teachers. In Gale's case it was because he didn't feel like doing homework. Opal's case was a little different.

Opal D'Aragon could do physics, period. That was all she knew how to do in school, and every other subject gave her problems. Her average grade in high school was a B- only because her A+ in honors physics canceled out her Cs. It wasn't that she didn't try; she just couldn't do anything that wasn't physics related. She was the only student from Irdon High to ever take electromagnetism as an independent study.

"But does quantum tunneling describe yourself at all?" Mrs. Hemmer asked.

"No," Opal admitted. Mrs. Hemmer gave another tired sigh and handed back the assignments to the two students.

"Opal, I want you to redo this assignment as well. I know you don't like writing, but at least make an effort. If you need any help the people down at the resource center can look at your essay before you hand it in."

Once the two were outside, Opal stretched and yawned. She turned to Gale who had slung his pretty empty backpack across his shoulder. "Just another day, huh?" The pale boy grunted. Opal took another look at the unsatisfactory assignment that she had turned in. "_I_ thought this was pretty good."

"Tell that to the physics teachers."

"They don't know much."

Gale huffed. "Whatever." He began moving through the sea of students that was rippling into different classrooms. Yeah, it was just another boring Monday at Irdon High.

XXXXXXXXX

Back home, Gale threw his backpack onto the floor of his room but carefully placed his longboard by his desk. It was his favorite – a _Loaded_ dervish he'd bought last year. He used it for commuting and stress relief.

The smell of newly baked oven pizza wafted up from downstairs, and he tried his best to ignore it. His grandfather had decided to start a pizza business on a whim, and had turned the first floor of their house into a pizza store. He thought grandpa Loze was a nutcase; he'd also been the only family member who'd agreed to take him in after his parents had disowned him.

Gramps was crazy, but Gale wasn't complaining. He gave Gale his space and Gale gave him his. They got along well, meaning they coexisted peacefully. Loze also had a huge fund he had saved up from his successful time working for a chemical plant, and was now just enjoying his time doing odd hobbies. Such as the pizza store.

Gale cringed as the smell of oil and grease hit his nose again. He would have actually liked pizza if he weren't forced to smell it every waking day of his life.

Gale slouched into his chair and lazily pulled out his notebook and pencil. He frowned and looked as though he was going to give up, but then began to write slowly. He was a lazy student, but having a student teacher conference this early in the year for being a smart aleck was more trouble than writing a few paragraphs.

XXXXXXXXX

Gale Engst  
Assignment 1  
9/13/2010

Hey, I'm Gale Engst. Oh, don't look so surprised, it's a guy's name all right. Fuck off if you've got a problem with it. Or are you shocked to find out that I'm actually, holy shit, a guy? I heard that one so many times, you better watch your mouth or you'll find yourself without one. Apparently my parents were too lazy to come up with a different name depending on whether I was a girl or guy so they chose 'Gale.' They couldn't even choose something normal like Alex.

I'm not your average sixteen-year-old emo kid from middle class white suburban New Jersey. You know why? I'm one of those weird vampire guys who can't walk around in the light of day without wearing 50 sps sunscreen, an oversized hat, and long sleeves in the middle of god fucking summer. Yeah, that's right. I'm one of those albino guys. Red eyes, white hair, pale skin that's slightly bluish even. And I don't care what you all say, I see you wince when I walk near you and I notice you talk to me like I have a disease. Whatever.

My parents actually disowned me because they're one of those uneducated people who think my albinism is a result of a devil's curse or whatever. Something stupid like that. I'm not upset with them; I'm actually thankful I don't have to live in a house where the grace of Nayru has to be everything in my life.

Ignoring the fact that I'm some frickin' red-eyed freak, I've lived a pretty normal life. Yeah, yeah, let's ignore the fact that I have special permission to skip outdoor PE class and I carry around a bottle of sunscreen for good measure. I go to Irdon Private highschool and tutor students in chemistry for cash. I know, you must be surprised I'm doing something academic instead of going off and drinking booze. Stereotypes. Actually, I don't enjoy tutoring but I need the money and I don't mind chemistry. I'm actually pretty good at it, and I bet I could beat all those snot nosed preps if I wanted to. I simply don't see the point in doing school work and playing puppy dog for those bastards who call themselves teachers. In school I'm a loner. No one bothers me, I don't bother them. I think it works out nicely. Oh, and, when I said 'normal'? I meant normal for an emo albino high school guy in affluent suburban New Jersey.

XXXXXXXXXX

Gale looked at what he had written and grinned. He probably couldn't turn in this draft because uptight Mrs. Hemmer was just going to send him off to detention for this. She wouldn't be able to handle the crude language.

Still it had felt good to write all of that out. Gale crumpled the assignment into a little ball and threw it into the trash bin. After a few minutes of squeaking his chair, Gale began to write again.

_My name is Gale Engst. I have an unexciting life. I love it. _

_

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_

fleets: Just a note, but I will post a couple of Avilux related pictures on my deviantart account (homepage link on my profile) once I finish drawing them.

Psht, I hate introductions. But one does what one must do.


	2. The End of Normality

fleets: Some new character sheets are up on devart

disclaimer: green day, burger king, whoppers, dervish, stephenie myer, legend of zelda etc belong to respective companies and I own nothing but the story line and modern character concepts Gale Engst and Link Petrov.

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**Chapter 2: The End of Normality **

"I think you're cute. Care to talk over coffee at Starbucks? From your secret admirer :)"

Gale stared at the piece of paper that he had found inside his locker. "Why thank you," he said aloud. He looked around, and when he made sure no one was looking, he stuck the message into the locker that was next to his. He forgot whose it was, but he smiled mischievously when he remembered what he had made poor Justin go through last year. He'd made Justin experience many awkward moments by sticking all of the "I like you" notes from his locker into the one next to his; Justin's. The eager teen had arrived to many different dates, not aware that the girls hadn't been waiting for him but had been waiting for Gale. Gale thought he'd actually done the oaf a favor, since one of the girls had actually become Justin's girlfriend in the end.

Gale was attractive and he knew it, and ever since the vampire fad had grown to ridiculous heights with the ridiculous book by Stephenie Meyer about sparkling vamps, his popularity seemed to have increased. Being a pale, stoic douche bag seemed to be the new "it," these days, and Gale fit the description without even trying.

It wasn't that he didn't like the girls back. He was a teenage guy – of course he'd be interested even if it was just on the level of friends with benefits, though most girls opposed that idea sooner or later. The thing was, after Gale had discovered he could just do nothing and still have girls following him (even stalking him), he had lost interest. It was too easy. He used to flirt a little with the ones who didn't chase him for fun, but he'd gotten a reputation of being a player so those smart girls began to avoid him.

Still, there seemed to be waves. A few months he would be the guy with all the secret fan clubs, and then the next few months he would be the class A jerk and enemy of all females in the world. He could make a function of his popularity over time and it would come out as a neat sine curve. It was amusing and funny.

It was also a way to make good money. He tutored students in chemistry to make cash, and for some reason everyone he tutored were girls. Some of them didn't even need help in chemistry, but Gale wasn't complaining if he could take numbers and earn cash at the same time. His address book of attractive ladies in Ariko, NJ, had become so impressive that he had considered selling it off for a good sum of money.

Gale closed his locker and took out his dervish. Once outside, he took a few steps and hopped onto his board to make his way to Burger King to buy lunch. He'd survived half a day of school – all he had was half a day more. What he didn't know was that today was going to be the last day of normality for him.

XXXXXXXXXX

The first thing Gale noticed when he arrived at Burger King was a teenager with dirty blond hair that was sitting at one of the tables. He looked to be around Gale's age, and the pale teen wondered why he hadn't seen him before. Perhaps he was home schooled? He was wearing a high collared sleeveless green jacket with a grey undershirt, and he was also wearing fingerless black gloves with gold triangles emblazoned on them. His shocking blue eyes darted over to Gale in an expression of bewilderment. There was something odd about him, and the pale teen had taken an immediate dislike to him. For one thing, the blond wouldn't stop staring at him, which annoyed Gale. He was used to people glancing at him and pretending not to see his unusual features, but this creepy staring was absurd.

Gale tried his best to ignore the blond teen and placed his order.

"I would like to have a Whopper with a medium soda please."

"Is that all?"

"Ye-"

"_Ssslurrrp_"

Several people flinched from the loud slurping sound the odd blond teen had made from drinking his soda. Apparently he had been so entranced by the appearance of the albino that he had forgotten to stop sucking the straw after he had drunk all the soda.

Gale started again. "Yes please."

"That will be $4.97."

The whole time Gale stood waiting for his hamburger he was conscious of those steel blue eyes staring at him. His back felt twitchy just from knowing that dastardly blond was watching him shamelessly. He considered a few times to go up to the kid and ask him what his problem was, but he thought it wasn't worth the trouble. Once he had his Whopper he was going to leave, and never see that freak again.

The cashier returned with his order. "Have a nice day!"

"Finally." Gale swiped the paper bag and turned his heel, eager to leave the place. Most days he would have chosen to loiter around, but today he wanted to go back to school as soon as he could. On his way out, he made the mistake of glancing at the blond teen.

As soon as he made eye contact, the blond perked up noticeably and waved excitedly. Spooked, Gale shot a nasty look and hurried away. _God damn it, he's probably gay._

Gale made a note to himself that he wasn't going back to Burger King for a while.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Late again, Gale?"

"Mmmmf." Gale banged against a few desks as he ran over a couple of knees in his attempt to get to his back row seat. He stepped onto some toes as well, since his Burger King trip had left him feeling sour.

Mr. Faroly, the small, balding precalculus teacher, followed Gale's noisy trail to his seat with disapproval. "Do you have your assignment with you?"

Gale wordlessly stuck out a crinkled sheet of notebook paper with some problems on it. Mr. Faroly crinkled his nose as he took the messy assignment before he stuck it in a folder.

"Gale, why are you always late?"

The pale teen plopped into his desk, stretched his legs, and slouched. "I was out buying lunch."

"What happened to the cafeteria?"

"I went to Burger King. Even with their greasy burgers I think they have better food than the stuff they serve here at school."

"I was under the impression that students weren't allowed to leave campus during school hours?"

"Is this a prison?"

"Don't act smart with me mister."

"Funny, I thought schools were supposed to reward the smart."

"See me after school, Gale."

Gale shrugged. He didn't really care because he didn't have anything better to do. He supposed he could show bald Mr. Faroly a thing or two about him. Gale estimated it was going to take about two weeks before the teacher realized it was no use keeping him after school. Most teachers found out it was a waste of _their_ precious time after all was said and done, and soon enough they just ignored him. He laughed at the students in the front row shaking their heads sadly at him. Losers.

"So where were we again? Ah, right. Trigonometry. We'll review a little bit of trig before we move on. Let me know if you need me to slow down, because this stuff will be very important later in the quarter."

XXXXXXXXX

Late that afternoon, Gale whistled cheerfully as he skated back home. He'd managed to corner Mr. Faroly into admitting he was on top of all the concepts, and that he was doing well in class with the exception of participation. _Another win for Gale!_ At the end of their talk, Mr. Faroly had become smaller and smaller, and had appeared to want to end the conversation and send Gale on his way. Sometimes Gale marveled at his own persuasive abilities and awesome charisma.

The teen flipped his earphones from his pockets and stuck them in his ears. He absentmindedly twiddled his iPod around for a random song. His mood had improved considerably since the incident with the blond.

"_I walk a lonely road  
the only one that I have ever known  
don't know where it goes  
but it's home to me and I walk alone_"

He tapped his finger lazily as Green Day began to play. Boulevard of Broken Dreams was one of the only songs he liked from them; it was decent.

"_I walk this empty street  
on the Boulevard of Broken Dreams  
where the city sleeps  
and I'm the only one and I walk alone"_

Gramps didn't like it when Gale skated around while listening to music. He said it was distracting and made him less aware of his surroundings, making it dangerous. Gramps didn't like a lot of things Gale did.

"_I walk alone  
I walk al –"_

"SHIT!"

Gale's dervish violently scraped the pavement as he swerved to avoid crashing into the person that had suddenly jumped in front of his path. He felt the worn out Otang wheels hit a crack, and Gale skidded on the asphalt when he lost his balance. He winced when his dervish rolled to the other side and hit the side of the road with a loud crack.

"_My shadow's the only one that walks beside me  
My shallow heart's the only thing that's beati – CLICK"_

Gale muttered, turning off the music and stuffing his earphones back into his pocket. Why did Grandpa Loze have to be right about things? He quickly jumped onto his feet and hopped onto the sidewalk to get out of the road. He looked around for his dervish.

"Hey, this is yours, right?"

Gale turned and readjusted his polarized sunglasses back onto his nose. His red eyes narrowed when he took in whom the speaker was.

It was the strange blond who had been staring at him at Burger King. He was holding Gale's longboard and was smiling amicably.

Gale snatched his longboard out of the boy's hands and glared. "Did you follow me?"

"I need to speak with you."

"You fucking followed me." Gale snapped, trying to see if he could recognize the blond teen's unusual accent. "You were that guy who was staring at me the entire time I was at Burger King. What's your problem man?"

The blond seemed taken aback by Gale's hostile attitude, and for several seconds he didn't say anything. Then, he held out open hands in a gesture of peace. "Sorry, I was trying to see if you were who I thought you were. Yeah, I followed you because I needed to speak to you about something important."

Gale frowned, and then sighed, leaning against his dervish as he did so. "Fine. What did you hear about me? If you just stopped me for something unimportant like asking for directions, I'm going to punch you in the face."

"You are Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds. I need your help to prevent world disaster."

Gale was silent for a long time and he stared at the other teen with a flat expression. He tried to see if the teen was serious, and hoped to god that the blond was joking. Much to his disappointment, all he saw was a completely serious face with a heavy gravity in those ice blue eyes. _This guy is completely nuts_.

Gale smiled a thin smile and beckoned the blond to come closer. When the odd teen leaned forward, Gale asked him to repeat what he had just said. "I don't think I heard you quite right. You said you had something _important _to tell me?"

"Your real name is Vaati. If you don't help me the world is going to - "

_Wham!_

While the blond tottered in a daze from having been punched unexpectedly in the face by Gale, the angry albino sped away from his stalker. The last thing Gale needed was some guy from the insane asylum following him to his house. He took several detours around the neighborhood before he made his way back home at full speed, only slightly confident that the stalker wouldn't follow him here. After all, one could never underestimate what a lunatic would do.

* * *

**Midna Hytwilian: **I can tell already that Skull Kid is going to be one of my favorites in this story :D Lol Loze - yeah, I couldn't really think of anything better for gramps. XD Sometimes I wish I had the nerve and jerkness to do what Gale can do. Then again, he really doesn't care about what happens to his future, irresponsible prick.

**Peka The Corsair: **Don't we all? I don't think I could ever be as much of an asshat as he is though O.o Thanks!

**DarkLinkvsRaineSagefan101: **You understood Opal's equation... wow. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to understand Schrodinger's scary numberless equation of horrors. I remember someone was trying to explain to me and all I got out of it was a bunch of h's with hats. I might go back and color that one some day. XD Gale is SO arrogant

**drydrydesert: **I have too much fun with Gale's dialogues X) Oooh thank you so much!

**Shadow Blues: **Oooh which one was that? I don't think I've seen that one yet - is it on ? (wants to read)

**Reily96: **PIZZERIA! oh em gee I completely forgot what they called the places that sold pizzas. I knew something didn't look right when I was writing the chapter (thankyousomuch!)

**Astral S. Kepeire: **Did you ever put it up for the public to see? I don't think I ever saw it :( (I like modern Zelda stories...) I know, I'm so sneaky with names *smacked*  
I'm beginning to think that I won't be able to avoid putting Opal again in another chapter, so she might have one more appearance. But yeah... she's not a major character this time :/

**Death-Note-Zelda-Kitty: **Aw, I hope you're feeling better! Happy to hear the beginning was good :)

**Darkwind: **Her equations make me go into mental paralysis too... lol Gale does all the teacher battles I wish I could've waged XD

**marium: **Thank you :D


	3. IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER

**Important Disclaimer for this Story. Please read. **

I am submitting this here because I feel this needs to be addressed before I go any further with this story. ESPECIALLY for this story, since it is set in the modern era and will occasionally touch on modern day problems that are very sensitive. Thank you for your patience.

So I just got a question asking whether I had anything against gay people. Of course not, and I'm sorry you took it as such. I have gay friends, I support gay rights... actually, beyond that I don't really care what happens as long as people are happy and fine (shrug).

Some characters such as Gale, however, may think otherwise. I have Gale as anti-gay (among his other "anti's" such as anti feminists, anti whites, anti yellows, anti blacks, anti religious people, anti athiests, and pretty much bloody anti everybody who is not Gale). JUST BECAUSE GALE THINKS SO DOESN'T MEAN I DO!!!! GALE does NOT equal FLEETS.  
I may have overdone Gale/Vaati's iffyness with gays because when I developed the character I imaged they would be most prone to be super anti gay because they would have been easy targets for "ohhh you're so girly/feminine" jeering. In defense, Gale/Vaati feels/felt the need to go super masculine by flipping to one extreme - the anti gay. Gale/Vaati are the two primary characters who (may) have hostile feelings towards gays (in my characterizations) for this reason. They might even just be hiding in the closet and doesn't want to admit it (since the Vaati's I write are masters of denial). I DON'T KNOW. Make what you will, I'll leave that to you.

And while we're at it, I don't care if you're lesbian, if you're christian, if you're an illegal immigrant, if you're American, if you're every color of the god damned rainbow, if you're muslim, if you're jewish, if you're ten, if you're fifty, if you're a guy, if you're a girl, if you're an it, if you're from the north, south, east, or west, if you're an alien, if you're a zombie, if you are vegetarian, if you're obese, if you're average, if you like the Yankees, if you like the Red Sox...  
I care that I can respect you and you can respect me as a fellow individual on this very sketchy web. Got it? Thanks.

I thought I wrote a disclaimer (maybe it was on devart) that some people WILL be offended by Gale's beliefs. I also said that they are by no means my own beliefs and that if you become offended I will be sad and maybe a little upset.

I cannot write a story having every single character have the same exact beliefs I have. What a damn boring story that would be. Please. PLEASE understand that I am not trying to press any one belief on anyone. And if you've got a problem with this then so be it - I can't write while being careful not to offend anyone. I'm bound to offend someone someday, and heck, I probably already offended someone just writing this.

The bottom line I want to get across is that fleets, the author, me - tries to have an open mind about things. This may be misconstrued and people may take me for a hypocrite because they attach me so closely with the very ahole, arrogant bastards that are my characters. My characters are their own, and likewise I am my own person.

Sorry I'm antsy, I'm a little stressed right now.


	4. The New Delivery Boy

**Chapter 3: The New Delivery Boy**

Three days later, Friday, Gale had pushed the incident with the weird blond to the back of his mind. He'd actually done some of the homework, showed off what he could do on the first quiz of the year for US history class, and had been a jerk to the few stupid ones who'd thought he needed a friend. Gale didn't need friends. He liked his time alone and couldn't really bother with the drama that came with friends. Once upon a time he had hung out with a few kids his age, but he realized he always ended up feeling irritable when he was with them. Maybe it was a social disorder. He never really put much thought into it because he didn't care. He was fine being a loner, he didn't care that other people thought he was strange and scary, and he didn't need anyone. He was a lone wolf – Gale liked that phrase.

Yeah. Friends were bothersome, high maintenance, and brought with them a world of drama. He understood little about the people who needed to be with their friends _all_ the time – like the girls who went to the bathrooms together in huge groups. Did they really need to pee together as well? Pah, he was _totally_ fine being by himself.

At least, that's what he told himself. His lifestyle was more tolerable that way.

Gale shifted his backpack on his shoulder as he approached his grandfather's home. He frowned when he saw it; just like any other day he took a good look at it when he came back from school. The house was a part of a small, upper middle-class neighborhood. Everything about it was similar to the rest of the cookie-cutter houses; soft yellow walls, a homey two stories, and a large grassy backyard. However, there was one thing that was utterly and eye-popping different about it, and that was the first floor. The first floor had been repainted in a red and white Italian theme and the walls had been replaced with large glass panes. A gigantic poster of "Irdon's Biggest Pizza" was taped to the glass door, and next to it was a flickering neon sign of a chef flipping pizza dough. Instead of having a front lawn, the driveway had been extended further across, and white lines had been painted to mark parking spaces. There was another sign on the window that claimed, "We deliver Fridays through Sundays!" The floor of the house had been converted to red and white tiles, and metallic tables and seats were situated around a marble counter. Behind the counter, he could see two black ovens and a white haired aging man shuffling about.

For Gale, everything about the pizzeria was an eyesore to the neighborhood but old Grandpa Loze was stubborn about it. He skidded his dervish to a stop and flipped back its tail, catching it in his free hand as it jumped upwards. He pushed open the door of the pizzeria and walked into the middle of a conversation.

"You'll be working a lot, I reckon, but if you're up to it then Loze's Pizzeria can do deliveries every day."

"I'll do anything for a place to stay. I don't know how much longer I can live in the car."

That voice… Gale had heard it before. He turned slowly to see a blond haired, blue-eyed teen in a dark green jacket sitting politely in one of the metal chairs. Grandpa Loze noticed Gale come in and he waved him over.

"Ah! Gale, I want you to meet Link. He's thinking of working here and doing deliveries."

"Oh, I'm not thinking of working – I'll definitely work if that means I can have a roof to sleep under," Link corrected. He waved briefly to Gale who was still standing by the doorway with utter shock and revolt written all over his face.

"What is _he_ doing here?!" Gale finally snarled after a few minutes of trying to find his voice. He stomped off to his crook nosed grandpa and cornered him. "And why is talking about a _place to stay?!"_

Loze blinked his dark beady eyes and glanced from the angry Gale to the blond teen who was happily sipping a soda. "You two know each other?" He finally asked.

The boy named Link nodded. "We've met briefly. I can say truthfully that I know Gale's right fist the best." He pointed to the slightly purplish area right under his eye. "Quite a mean hook you've got."

"You punched him, m'boy?"

"He was stalking me, all right? Gramps, he's a stalker. There's no way I'm letting him live in the same house with me."

Link stood up and went over to the soda vendors for a refill. "I never would have expected someone to be in such a foul mood as to want to punch a stranger like me. And all I wanted was some help with," he paused, and then grinned, "… directions."

_That lying son of a_… Gale wanted to punch him again right now. "GRAMPS! There is absolutely _no fucking way_ I'm living with this creep!"

"_Watch your language boy!_" Loze roared. He moved off to stand next to Link in his defense. "Link here has gone through rough times, and he deserves someone to help him out! This boy is living in a car by himself, he picks up stray quarters by the vending machines just to get through the day, and isn't even enrolled in school because he's too busy surviving! You don't know what it's like to live like that, boy, because I've always taken care of you and made sure you had a damn good life."

"You are so gullible, old man," Gale shot back. "Just look at him. Does he look like he's been struggling to get by? He looks too clean and perky to me." Gale turned to Link. "Get out, or I'm calling the police."

"It seems like you can't remember that I was the one who picked you off the street as well! Otherwise, my brain dead son and his good-for-nothing wife would have left you in the streets to fend for yourself. _I choose who lives here! If you've got a problem with that then GET OUT."_

Ouch. Gale seethed, but he didn't say anything and stormed angrily upstairs to his room. He heard Link trying to calm down Loze, and he cursed both of them. He threw his backpack against the wall and watched it satisfactorily slam and fall to the floor. His day had gone from boring to exciting, but exciting in the wrong direction. It was goddamned miserable.

Furious, Gale put on his earphones and turned the music up high so he could drown out everything around him. He couldn't believe gramps had let that weird guy in, and he questioned the old man's sanity in agreeing to let the kid stay. That guy wasn't normal, and there was something about him that made Gale antsy and upset.

Suddenly, the door to his room opened a crack and Gale tensed. He almost threw something when he saw bits of blond hair poke through the cracks as Link inched his way into Gale's room. The blond teen mouthed something inaudible.

"What?!" Gale snapped.

Link began to mouth something again, and then shook his head and pointed at his ears.

_Oh._

Gale took off his earphones and tried again. "What do you want?"

"Uh… I just thought, you know, we weren't formally introduced."

"Let's keep it that way."

"Well, I'm going to be living here so –"

"Listen up, creep," Gale stood up sharply and walked menacingly towards Link. "I don't know who you are but –"

"I'm Malenko Petrov, but people call me Link."

Gale gave his death glare. "Well, _Petrov_, what makes you think you can just follow me around like a psycho stalker and show up on my front doorstep asking for a place to stay?"

"I just did that. And now I've got a place to stay."

"All right, wise guy, gramps granted you a place to stay and I can't do anything about that. Still, I can ask you to stay the fuck away from me because this is my turf, got it? I don't want to see your face as long as I'm in this house."

Link scrunched his eyebrows. "You've got a nasty temper."

"I've got an even nastier fist. Do you want to meet my left one this time?" Gale held up his balled fist.

"Not particularl –" Link began, but was interrupted by Gale's punch aimed at his face.

The next few seconds came as a surprise to Gale. Instead of having his fist connect with the stalker's mug, he felt his punch connect with Link's hand that had blocked his hit with lightning quick speed. Then, he felt his left arm twist to the side, forcing his body to follow it all the way to the floor.

"Oof!" Gale grimaced, rubbing his side that had slammed on the floor. He heard Link say something with a disappointed tone behind him.

"Fine, I'll try not to bother you while you're still sour."

Gale's door shut with a click and he spent a couple of minutes recovering from the pain and embarrassment. Recovering mostly from embarrassment. He was rarely humiliated the way Link had humiliated him moments ago. He sat there, rubbing his side and trying not to think about how Link had completely and utterly made quick work of him with a simple block. _Just who is that guy?_

He jumped to his feet and quickly brushed himself off. Then, he opened the door and stuck out his head. Link was nowhere to be found.

"Oy! Petrov!"

He heard some scuffling, and then Link's head popped around from behind one of the rooms. Apparently he had been assigned to the guest room that was at the end of the hallway.

"Come back here."

Shrugging, Link walked back to Gale's room with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Gale sized him up and glowered with his arms crossed.

"I need you to answer some questions," he demanded. When Link looked at him puzzled, Gale rolled his eyes. "Since I can't do anything about you living here, I might as well learn a little bit about whom I have to deal with," he explained.

"Fair enough. Ask away."

"Who are you? Why don't you have a place to stay?"

"I have a car I was sleeping in. I used to drive around, find a quiet place to park for the night, and then drive again in the morning. I've just about run out of gas so I asked your grandfather if I could stay here."

"So the car doesn't run. Why can't you do what you've been doing and live in your car?"

"Trust me, it's not really pleasant."

"So you're homeless and you don't have an income?"

"That just about explains my situation."

"Then why do you look so… I don't know… clean?"

"I go to the local gyms and sneak into their showers. I can sometimes get into schools because they think I'm a student and I use the showers in their gyms."

"What about your parents? Why aren't you living with them?"

"…"

"So you don't want to talk about that, huh?"

"… Let's just say I uh, left them."

"Hmph. Wouldn't they look for you? I mean, wouldn't you prefer to live in a car instead of a house?"

Gale eyed Link carefully. The other teen, however, refused to elaborate and he figured he wasn't going to get anything from pressing him further. The two lapsed into silence for a moment until Link sighed and leaned against the wall.

"You don't trust me, right?"

"That's right, punk."

Link bit his lip while he thought of something. Finally, he shook his head. "You know what, I don't trust you either. I never did."

"Then why –" Gale began, but was cut off by the blond.

"You might not know it yourself, but you're not who you think you are. Do you believe in reincarnation?"

Normally, Gale would have laughed at such a question and would have poked fun at its stupidity. This time, however, he was in no laughing mood. "Of course not."

"What if I said that you're actually Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds who'd lived over 8,000 years ago? Does that name strike a chord at all?"

Gale stared. "Dear Nayru you're crazy."

"The reason why I was driving around the coast was because I was looking for you and one other person. The other person is Skull Kid, and I know I have to find him soon or something bad is going to happen. If we don't do something, a massive flood is going to sink at least fifty percent of landmass on earth."

"Wait… _we???_"

Link nodded, his expression full of worry. "You are Vaati. You have the ability to take us where we can prevent the flood from wiping out the world."

_Okkkaaayyy, this is getting weirder._ Gale decided to play along for the time being. "And how do you know that there's going to be a flood?"

"You wouldn't believe me," Link muttered.

This time, Gale managed to laugh. "You've been ridiculous enough. How much worse can it get?"

Link hesitated, appearing reluctant to explain further. At last, he spoke under his breath. "Farore spoke to me. She showed me what I had to do."

Gale couldn't take it anymore. He'd been angry before by Link's ridiculous claims but overexposure to the blond teen's crazy ideas had pushed him over the edge. The pale boy rolled on the floor and laughed until he had trouble breathing. Offended, Link turned to leave but Gale held up a hand to stop him.

"Haha – wait – hahaha – just one more question before you go," Gale gasped, teary eyed. Link gave him a scorching look. "What did this Vaati do? Was he some religious leader or something? Maybe," Gale snorted, "maybe Farore's loyal follower?"

Link's frown loosened and he smiled a little at Gale's questions. He seemed amused by something. "Hardly."

"Oh?"

As Link walked away, his smile faded away again and hardened into something fierce. "He tried to take over the world," he said. Behind him, Gale stopped laughing and a curious look came over him.

Because something about that _did _strike a chord.

* * *

fleets: Hmm, there's something strange about the Petrov kid. XD

**Midna Hytwilian: **lol 'prick.' Haha I had a feeling you'd like the chapter with Link's appearance ;) Gale's method is so risky - I go with your way too because people don't act hostile to you if you try the sweet way, and not the jerk way O.o;

(v_v;) Gale is such an ahole. I shame myself by trying to be him when writing this story (minus the ahole part though, he's kinda fun to be). O.o' rainbow colored people will scare me. BUT! I will hold nothing against them. Nor Re-Deads. Though I think if I shook their hand it'll fall off and I'll be sued for injury...

**drydrydesert: **Oh, Link would have one helluva time convincing Gale. Won't be easy, no, not at all. Thanks - I started reviewing to people in the stories after I realized multiple people had the same questions. The easiest thing to do was reply where everyone could see (unless it was going to spoil something).

**Shadow Blues: **Ohhh, I'll check it out! Yeah, Gale got quite a nice hit on him, but Link was more prepared this time around ;) No need to apologize! :O And hello on devart :D

**DarkLinkvsRaineSage123: **I um I um I um... please don't apologize!!! (blushing like mad in embarrassment as well) Nonono it was good that you brought it up! If you ever felt bad or suspected I was antigay, then someone else might have as well! Now that I have the super big disclaimer in the middle of this story (and also on my profile) I can hopefully lessen misconceptions. I would really hate it if other people began to think I was against gays or any other 'group.' And thank you as always for your reviews - luv ya too! ;)

**Death-Note-Zelda-Kitty: **Sorry, it wasn't really a 'chapter' :P It was an earlyish update though, if that counts :D

**Bishieluver01: **Gale seems to like punching people who bother him, but he learned his lesson this time. Violence isn't the answer. XD Fear Link's self-defence moves!

**Astral S. Kepeire: **Ehehe, I don't think I'll ever have a 'real' two chapters in a day update ever again. It's just physically impossible now...  
I read your story and I was sad it ended with a cliffy! :(  
Actually, Gale probably _wouldn't_ have murdered you for continued stalking because you're a girl, and he likes girls. He's a sexist pig, but at least he's interested in the fair sex. Remember his guidelines? If it looks like a human and has boobs, he'll take an interest. If it looks like a human, has boobs, and a pretty face, he'll hit on it. If it looks like a human, has boobs, a pretty face, and intelligence as an added bonus, he'll... I mean... (coughcoughcough) ANYWAYS. Link. He's so different in this story so far (and no, he really didn't deserve that punch but he was better prepared this time ;) ). Of course! Draw away! I really don't mind and you don't have to ask permission as long as you give me credit for the character :D

**Peka The Corsair: **Indeed. If only, ey?

**Reily96: **I'm not sure why I thought of Burger King - I'm a McDonald's person O.o Oooh, I'll be looking out for it, whatever it turns out to be 8D. Mmm, I should've expected it, really. Now I have the disclaimer though, and hopefully that will quell fears of me being anti-whateveritmaybe.

**marium: **You don't have to apologize! Aww, I hope you're feeling better now though :) Oh... yeah... I might've freaked out a bit and I'm embarrassed about that, but thanks to it I've got the disclaimer this story really needed earlier. :)


	5. Fire Fairies

fleets: So yeah, Gale has a sailor mouth. Before the end of this story, I'll make sure he cleans up his dirty mouth a little.

disclaimer: I don't own Halo, Gulliver's Travels (Laputa reference), Devil in the White City, Barnes and Nobles, Loaded Dervish, Legend of Zelda, and anything else I might have mentioned that belong to respective owners. All I own is the modern versions (Gale, Petrov, Sterling, modern Skull Kid, Gramps)

* * *

**Chapter 4: Fire Fairies**

"Oooh, so your name is Link?"

"Where did you come from?"

Gale had tried avoid the first floor pizzeria as long as possible until Grandpa Loze had called him down and demanded he help run the place. He didn't want to admit it, but he was just a little jealous that almost all the girls' attention had diverted from him to Link who was handling the register. The pizzeria had become popular by the neighborhood girls by Sunday noon when word had spread that there was a new, good-looking guy working there. When he went down the stairs, he noticed a group of high school sophomores trying to get Link to talk with ogling smiles.

Link smiled politely, but he seemed confused by all the attention he was getting. He'd suddenly become someone very quiet and shy.

_Country boy_, Gale thought miserably. He rolled his eyes when the girls practically squealed when "the man of few words" asked them if they actually wanted to buy something, instead of sitting and gawking.

"Gale! I have a delivery order for the Thompson's house!"

The girls became quiet and they turned their heads in the direction Loze had called the albino. Gale noticed, with an unamused expression, the girls begin talking to each other in hushed undertones. Deep down, he was satisfied that his presence had managed to split the group into Link admirers and Gale admirers. _Much better_.

Gale walked over and grabbed the box of pizza from the counter. A quick glance passed between him and Link while Loze hummed merrily in the background; it was a mutual "stay away from me" look.

"Are you taking the car?" Loze asked.

Gale waved his dervish in one hand. "Nah. The Thompson's don't live too far." He pushed the door open with his foot. "Oh, I might not be back until dinner. Link can handle the rest of the deliveries today."

"Gale!"

"He's hardly busy now anyway. He's just standing by the counter doing nothing." Ignoring his grandpa's protests Gale strutted out, only stopping to wink mischievously at the group of girls staring at him. Their talking suddenly became more animated.

XXXXXXX

"Have a nice day," Gale muttered in a bored tone after he had delivered the pizza. He tugged on the grey hood of his sweatshirt so that they covered his black baseball cap better, and adjusted his sunglasses over his eyes. Today was sunny: the kind of weather Gale despised because of his need to take extra precautions against UV rays.

Usually he would have gone back to the pizzeria to mope around in his room, but today he really didn't feel like going back to the place where that Petrov kid was. He got on his nerves like a mosquito. Yesterday gramps had made his life horrible by making him show Link the policies of the pizzeria, and Link had kept calling him Vaati until Gale had had enough and had stormed out. Link had gotten somewhat better about calling him Gale instead of Vaati, but he still made some minor slipups every now and then. The weirdo had stopped telling him about the coming world apocalypse, but Gale suspected the blond still wasn't done plotting his insane plans. Gale hoped gramps wouldn't be able to get Link into school, or he'd have to spend more hours with him than he would like. At least on Monday, Gale wouldn't have to worry about the strange teen until he returned home from school.

Gale checked his watch. It was ten to five already. Having nothing better to do, he decided to skate around for a little to take his mind off of things. He sped around the roads, skidding along side the cars as they passed him. He flicked off a few drivers who had become annoyed by him purposely carving side to side on the road, and then turned off to some side streets when he reached the main roads. From there, he weaved back and forth onto different streets as he gradually neared the closest mall.

Pump, carve, slide, manual… pump, carve, pump, carve, ollie…

He stopped in front of Barnes and Nobles. He walked casually inside and wandered around the isles for a little while, picking up books and putting them back down without interest. Gale continued to circle around the bookstore looking for something to do when he noticed a strange pattern. _Wait a second…_

He took a good long look at the place he had stopped. He noticed that every time he had circled around the bookstore, he had always managed to wander over to this particular section. It was the Nonfiction section.

Gale shrugged. It seemed like his unconscious mind wanted some nonfiction reading. He used to think nonfiction novels were boring as hell, but he'd come to recognize how wrong he'd been after reading a few. For instance, he'd loved Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. It had been a true story about a psychopath who had set up a hotel and had lured his victims to their demise; the hotel including special architecture such as a special soundproof bedroom fitted with gas lines to asphyxiate victims, and secret chutes to the basement. It was all very disturbing, but Gale had been slightly fascinated that someone could be so… evil. He was repulsed by it and curious about it at the same time.

The red-eyed teen let his hand do all the thinking as he stood before the neat rows of brand new books. He picked one out randomly and noticed it was a book on medieval history.

_Oh yeah. I wonder if Vaati is mentioned at all._

Suddenly interested, he ruffled through the index to find something about the "sorcerer." Link must have gotten his crazy ideas after reading something about this mysterious Vaati.

Nothing.

Gale was suddenly very frustrated. He hated Vaati already because he now associated Vaati with the lunatic who now lived in his home, but he wanted to learn more about him. Well, to say nothing was over exaggerating because the book _had_ mentioned him, but it was close to nothing. All it spoke about were roughly three lines about how there was once a wind sorcerer named Vaati who had tried to take over the region of Hyrule, and then it went on to focus more on the great warlock Ganondorf. Ganondorf had received at least four pages worth of information and speculation, and Vaati had received a mere two sentences.

For some reason this made Gale very upset.

To make things even more ambiguous, Hyrule was the legendary city no one had ever found. There were three hidden cities of myth that explorers spoke of by the early sixteenth century: 'Laputa,' or the flying city of the ancients – The Palace of Winds; 'Atlantis,' or the lost city – Zora's Domain; and finally 'Avalon,' or the land of paradise – Hyrule.

Petrov thought he, Gale Engst of Ariko New Jersey, was some reincarnation of a wind mage who had tried to take over a city of myth. The more he thought about Link, the more tired he became. Annoyed, Gale put the book back and started wandering around the bookstore once more.

XXXXXXXXXX

Gale walked out of Barnes and Nobles at around 6pm. Now that it was entering the cooler months, the sky was relatively dark and the streetlamps had already turned on. He was ashamed to say he had even gone to the children's section to look up books on mythology to find anything about the sorcerer Link kept referring to. He'd found several stories based on the lore of Hyrule, but they were mainly about some princess, an evil king, and a hero to save them all. Occasionally there would be a story about a one-eyed monster, but it seemed as though the people who came up with the stories of Hyrule weren't very creative. There was always a princess in distress and a hero to save the world from the forces of evil. So cliché.

As he rounded the corner of a quiet residential street, he heard a giggly voice shout.

"Hey! Hey white guy!"

Gale squinted as he tried to see who was calling him. The wheels of his longboard rattled on the pavement as he cruised along on the sidewalk.

"Hey! White guy, over here!"

"Jeezus!"

All of a sudden, a boy who looked to be around ten jumped out in front of Gale's path and waved his arms out. It seemed as though he had appeared out of nowhere, jumping out from the dark into sight under a streetlight. Gale jerked his weight back and spun his board's nose sharply to the side to avoid a collision. "Watch where you're going kid," he spat.

The boy flicked his baseball cap to the side and gave the grumbling teen a lopsided grin. From under his oversized hoodie, he produced a worn, old, ocarina.

"Do you want to hear a song?"

Gale blinked. Then, he shook his head and pushed the boy away from him. "Kid, go home. And do me a favor and stay out of my way."

"Just one song?"

"I said no, dammit." _This is the second time this week I ran into weirdos while out riding._ Gale gave two short pumps with his foot and jumped onto his longboard again. The boy watched the teen quickly skate away from him. After a while, he shrugged and moved off to find someone else who might be more willing to listen to his song.

XXXXXXXX

Link watched Gale angrily gun down aliens on his videogame 'Halo 3.' He preferred not to bother the albino if he could, but he was also curious as to why Gale seemed so ferociously upset. The blond could tell Gale wasn't in a good mood from the way he viciously sliced down opponents with an energy sword: Gale only ever used energy swords when he was angry about something, as Link had quickly learned. "What's eating you?"

Gale said nothing and continued to mash buttons on his controller, though Link could tell he had heard him from the way the corners of his mouth were twitching in annoyance. When Link tried again, Gale threw down his controller and snapped. "Nothing, all right?! Just fucking go away!"

"Did something happen?"

Gale muttered more profanities before he gave in. "Just some kid I ran into today. Reminded me of you, you crazy bastard."

Link eyed him suspiciously. He was suddenly a lot more interested in what Gale had to say. "Reminded me how?"

Gale stood up and turned the console's power off. He sighed. "Well, I almost ran him over with my longboard, and then he kept asking me if I wanted to hear a song." Link suddenly grabbed Gale's arm.

"Say that again."

"Dude, Petrov, let go of my arm."

"Vaati, say that again."

Gale shook his wrist away from Link and scowled. "What, he wanted me to listen to a song. He had an ocarina or whatever. And my name is NOT Vaati for the billionth fucking time."

Link had a blank look on his face as though he'd been slapped. Finally, he said in a hoarse whisper, "That was Skull Kid."

XXXXXXXXX

Zelda Sterling yawned as she drove back home in her silver Suzuki SX4. She wore a pink polo shirt, a creamy white skirt, and black leggings to compensate for the cold weather. Her yellow blonde hair was set in place with a pink headband with girlish bows on the side. Zelda was very pretty, and she had even modeled for some ads for money, but she sometimes hated it. Every pretty girl knows that while guys may secretly wish to be with her, she intimidates them away. Most of the ones who approach her were either sleaze balls or perverts. And being a sixteen year old at college automatically made any significant other a pedophile.

She wasn't your average sixteen year old: Zelda had skipped two years of high school to enroll in Ariko's community college as a full-time student, studying energy manipulation. The basis of the field rested on the hypothesis that certain objects held properties that could influence the collection of energy in an area in a way that defied normal laws of physics. Energy manipulation was one of the newer fields of science, and some experts still scoffed at it, claiming it was as ridiculous as magic. People had begun to study it after an archeologist discovered a piece of arrowhead that occasionally burst to flames, froze the water in the air around it to ice, or radiated a bright golden light. Not being able to explain the phenomenon using conventional science, people had turned to a new field.

Zelda watched the needle on the speedometer inch above the speed limit. She was eager to return home; she didn't know why she had to spend Sunday night at the lab when she could've been doing something else. All she had accomplished was to read through publications and discuss them with other peers in her group, and coming to a disappointing conclusion that there was almost nothing definite in the field of energy manipulation. Why was she even pursuing this joke of a field anyway?

She didn't really know, except that it somehow felt right. For reasons she and her fellow researchers couldn't explain, the idea that a currently unknown force that didn't follow the rules of classical physics existed sounded right. Crazy, perhaps, but right. After all, people had once called the idea of airplanes impossible and absurd.

As Zelda drove along the quiet streets, she noticed a boy sitting by the curb looking bored with his chin on his hands. Normally she would have paid no attention to him, but it was dark and he seemed to be alone. Where were his parents? He looked no older than ten.

She drove her car up to him and dropped the side windows. Noticing the car stop, the boy suddenly grinned happily and skipped over waving.

"Are you ok?" She asked as the boy bounded up to the car. "It's getting late. Why aren't you home with your parents?"

"I got none," the boy shrugged. Zelda looked at him in surprise and she didn't know what to say. The boy was wearing a black hoodie with a skull design on the back, and it covered his gloved hands from being a few sizes too large. His reddish spiky hair stuck out from under his red baseball cap he wore backwards on his head.

Just as Zelda was considering driving the boy to the police to let them know about the boy, he shook a blue ocarina excitedly in his hand. "Do you want to hear a song?"

"Um… do you have a home you've been living in? It's getting dark, and it's not safe for someone young like you to be wandering around the streets by yourself."

The boy pouted. "I can take care of myself perfectly!" He frowned. "No one wants to listen to my song."

Zelda sighed. Perhaps she could learn more about the boy if she did what he wanted her to do. "All right. One song, and then we're figuring out what to do with you."

"All right!" The boy began to skip ahead away from the streetlamp. He turned around, signaling the girl to get out of her car to follow him. "You have to listen to my song outside," he called.

At first, Zelda hesitated. The boy looked innocent enough, but what if his plan all along was to get her out of her car? What if he was working with a robber or kidnapper or…

_No! He's only a boy_.

She opened the door tentatively and stepped out. Locking the door, she walked cautiously after the mysterious boy. He grinned happily when he saw her step out and pointed at the curb. "Sit," he commanded. His yellow hazel eyes glinted like a cat's.

Puzzled and slightly worried about just sitting on the side of the road away from the streetlights, Zelda slowly sat down. The boy giggled approvingly and took a crooked bow. Then, he took a deep breath and began to blow slowly into the ocarina.

The song was surprisingly elegant, and Zelda felt the tension in her shoulders begin to relax. The hollow wooden notes echoed hauntingly in the deserted street. The music involuntarily made her drop her guard, and for a moment she became lost in the melody. Just as she was about to close her eyes, she noticed a few dots of glowing orange flicker around them. _Fireflies, at this time of year?_

She reached out a hand, trying to touch one that had wandered close. Then…

"Ah!" Zelda pulled her hand back quickly when the dot expanded and grew fiery burning wings. Behind her, the boy giggled between the ocarina and the music changed to pick up its pace. In time with the music, the hovering winged orb twirled around and flittered near Zelda's hand.

The girl was bewildered and a little frightened by the strange flying things. She turned back to the boy, who only snickered. She felt the temperature rise slightly around her hand and noticed an orb flitting near them. "What are these things?" She whispered. She reached out again, and this time, the orb moved to hover just above her palm. Zelda felt the warmth course from her hand to her body, and she stared at the delicate thing flapping its six wings slowly. It looked just like a fairy from fairy tales and children's stories. More of them danced around her and the boy in time to the music.

When the boy stopped playing several minutes later, the fire fairies darted around until they finally faded away. When they disappeared, Zelda felt chilled all of a sudden and she wished for their return. A thousand thoughts filled her head, but they were quickly interrupted by a sharp snicker.

"Heehee, did you like it?"

Zelda stared at the boy, wide eyed. "Who are you?"

"They call me Skull Kid," he replied proudly. "Wasn't that cool? I learned how to do it a few days ago."

This boy, the ocarina, the fire fairies…

_They can rescue the field of energy manipulation!_ Zelda thought excitedly. She desperately wanted to know more about Skull Kid (_What a sinister name…_) but she didn't want to sit out in the night alone in such an empty street. She glanced back at her car parked some ways away with the hazard lights blinking. The girl had no idea how to handle the situation. Would it be kidnapping if she took the boy back to her house until she figured out what to do? She was sure father wouldn't mind especially since Skull Kid allegedly had no guardian. She needed to ask him about that; it didn't make sense why he was wandering around on his own. Maybe he was a runaway kid? Were his parents abusive? Is that why he ran away?

"You didn't think that was cool, did you."

"Hm?" Zelda had forgotten Skull Kid had asked her a question. He looked disappointed and had dug his hands in the depths of his sweatshirt.

"Fine. Bye lady."

"Wait!" Zelda grabbed his wrist before he disappeared. Skull Kid blinked, surprised by her reaction. She quickly let go when she realized her own selfish motivations had been part of the reason why she didn't want him to leave. But those fire fairies – she needed to know more about them, study them, find out what they were. "Uh…"

Skull Kid perked up. "Did you like it?"

"It was amazing." Zelda tried to stay calm as she looked into that Cheshire cat grin. She wondered if she weren't Alice who had accidentally fallen into the rabbit hole tonight. Zelda bit her lip, wondering. _It's not kidnapping if I'm trying to help a lost boy, right?_

She made up her mind. "Do you mind if you come home with me? It's not safe for you to be by yourself at this hour, and we have an extra room where you can stay until you find somewhere else to go."

"But I don't need any help."

"I'd also like to listen to more of your music." Zelda hated herself from using deceit. _For the sake of science_, she told herself, _and for the boy's safety._

"Really?! You liked it that much?" Skull Kid skipped happily. "All right! I'll come with you, lady." He dashed over to the parked car and pointed at the door, telling her to unlock it. There was a soft click as Zelda unlocked the car, and she watched the strange hazel-eyed boy bounce into the seats, laughing.

Zelda liked kids because they were innocent and pure. Something about this one, however, made her hesitate. Though childish, there was something about him that wasn't so innocent or pure. She hoped it was just her imagination running rampant; it was late and she was tired after all.

Zelda wondered if she knew what she was getting herself into.

* * *

**Shadow Blues:** If only he knew how similar he was :P

**Midna Hytwilian: **Gale needs to learn how to chillax. I thought you didn't hit girls too, Gale! (smacks him)

**Reily96: **YES. THEIR FRIES. I'm a fan of confused and angry Gale D (so yeah, you'll most likely see him angry/confused). lol our characters are contageous. But hey, I'm a TS fan so I ain't complaining (though I don't know what your relationships with your current friends will end up like O.o)

**Astral S. Kepeire: **Only because they found out what an asshat he really was ;). He's actually quite a gentleman... until he sees the next new girl that walks by, which means he's turning in a new direction every few minutes v_v;. Most girls aren't ok with that lol.

Cool! Link is happy you like him :)

**marium: **Aw thank you, and I'm relieved to hear you don't think I think like Gale (who is a total jerk btw).

**drydrydesert: **Wow. That... is one of the most flattering comments I've ever received. Thank you! :D

**Peka The Corsair: **No, Vaati can't live happily as of now. It's too much fun (ignores red eyes glaring). I thought that if anyone were to catch that, it would be you since you had all those latin words on your profile. I was looking around for latin words relating to light and fire, and then bird. Then I smashed it all together so it's birdlight fire. A bird of light and fire. It'll be explained better later, when one of the characters names it. I could have just called it a phoenix, but I didn't think it would have been as cool. :D

**DarkLinkvsRaineSagefan101: **Yay for hugs! Thanks. Oooh, one of these days I might use Iblis as a character name (but in an anagram. Dang, I use so many anagrams). I googled it, and yeah, they do look similar! It sounds like their characters will be slightly different though :)

**Death-Note-Zelda-Kitty: **Uh oh, be careful about getting caught! :O Gale is not happy, no haha. More on the life of Gale and Link together in the next chapter (at least, I think... )

**Bishieluver01:** Gale: Don't you dare (censored for inappropriate and vulgar language unsuitable for T rating) do that to my board!

fleets: I think someone needs to wash his mouth with soap. Anyways, Link is still a mystery isn't he? Where _did_ he get that car, if he even has one? XD

Yup, I'll be doing one of Zelda some time, now that she made her appearance. I ended up doing Dugal earlier because I became temporarily obsessed with him.


	6. A Month of Frustrations

**Chapter 5: A Month of Frustrations**

Gale's life had become increasingly miserable with the news that Grandpa Loze had managed to enroll Link in school. He was scheduled to start classes at the beginning of second quarter which was sometime around the middle of October, and that was less than two weeks from now. Link had begun to act even stranger than before after he had heard about the weird kid Gale had almost run into: what was his name again? Skull Kid?

The silver haired teen watched Link working at the register out of the corner of his eye. Petrov was currently taking orders from an elderly lady.

"A medium supreme to go," he passed the pizza box to her. Before she left, Link stopped her with a question. "Excuse me ma'am, I was wondering if you could help me."

The lady smiled pleasantly – she was one of those 'neighborhood mom' types.

"I was wondering if you've ever seen a boy about this high wandering around by himself. He has an ocarina."

The lady's smile turned from pleasant to puzzled. "No, I can't say I have."

"Are you sure? He also giggles a lot, and likes to pull pranks. Has anyone pulled a prank on you recently?"

Gale decided to step in. He gave a warm smile to the lady and told her to have a nice day while he pushed Link over to a corner. "Are you scaring away our customers now?" He asked icily.

"The customers think I'm charming, quite frankly."

"Well aren't you the charmer boy."

Loze peeked around from behind one of the ovens. "Gale! Are you distracting my new employee?"

Gale growled something from between his teeth before he turned his cold glare back to Link. "What the heck is with you and your Skull Kid obsessions?!" he hissed.

Link took a step forward and he stared down Gale's disconcertingly red eyes coolly. "He's a lot more important than you think. I _have_ to find him."

Gale stood unflinching. "Then get out. Get out and take your lunatic ideas far away from here."

"You two boys stop bickering and help me run the store!" Loze's gruff voice caused Link to look behind him for a moment. Then, he turned back to Gale.

"I would do it, because goddesses know I'm just wasting my time here," Link spoke softly, hints of frustration in his voice. He shook his head, and then stepped past Gale to take care of a line of curious customers wondering why the two teens looked so hostile to each other. "But I need your help. Damn it I need your help, and you don't know just how important you are."

Gale huffed. _Crazy bastard_.

XXXXXXXXX

The bell rang. English was one of Gale's least favorite class, and it was only going to get worse.

Opal D'Aragon counted the number of people who had been called up today. One, two, …three? Wait, that can't be right. It was supposed to be two. It had always been two for as long as she could remember; her and Gale were the only people who had consistently caused problems in class to be called up at the end of class. She turned her head to her right and noticed Gale looking more upset than usual. She turned to her left. Ah, it was that new kid who was working for Gale's grandfather now. He had his hands in his coat pockets and was looking sheepishly at the spot between his feet. She could understand why he had quickly become popular with the girls in the school with his cute features.

"Gale, I have no words for you except to get a hold of your life. Opal, have you made use of the resource center? I haven't seen progress from you, and you're skirting a fine line between passing and failing. And… Link?"

"Yes'm." The other two were staring at the newcomer.

"Um, you don't happen to have dyslexia by any chance?"

"Dyslexy-what?"

"Mmm, never mind." Mrs. Hemmer tapped her pen on her desk. "Well, the ideas you presented were well thought out but um, your spelling was nothing short of awful."

Link nodded. Opal's eyebrows arched high when she saw Link's paper full of spelling errors. She was surprised Mrs. Hemmer could even read it.

"I suggest you take advantage of the resource center to help you with spelling. Go with Opal. She should go there often if she actually listens to my advice. Take a look at this as well." She handed him a worksheet full of exercises. "Show it to me when you're done. I'd also ask Gale to help you if he actually had good work ethics."

The three filed out of class and did their best to avoid the class coming in. Gale and Link split off from Opal who had left for her AP calculus class. The two boys moved off to chemistry.

XXXXXXXX

"All right. You're coming with me."

"What?" Link asked, surprised, when Gale pulled him over after chemistry class. He had been heading over to the cafeteria.

"Shut up and come with me. I need a few words with you."

"Are you eating lunch?"

"In the shit pit? No way. I'm eating at Subways."

"I'd rather stay here. If you need to talk, find me in the cafeteria."

"You stubborn – Aahrgh!"

Link gave his pleasant smile as Gale grit his teeth in anger. "You're not used to people not moving the way you want them to. You know how to make _them_ run in circles, but you don't know anything about how to make _me _run."

Gale stormed his way to the cafeteria. "That's because you're goddess friggin' crazy."

"It's because I'm not afraid of you." Link waved and walked away without giving Gale a second glance. "See ya later."

Fifteen minutes later, Gale was carrying a tray with a rubbery looking hotdog and a bottle of Pepsi. His nose was crinkled in disgust, and he snapped at anyone who stood too close to him in line. Some students, especially the girls, either whispered quietly or gawked; Gale rarely frequented the cafeteria so he was a rare sight. Slightly liking the attention even though he was scowling the entire time, Gale stood at the edge of the cafeteria trying to find the frustrating blond teen.

It only took him several minutes until he found Link surrounded by a group of freshman girls chattering loudly at a small, circular table. The chattering stopped when Gale walked over and stood patiently off to the side. A cheerleader type of girl with her bleached blond hair growing dark at the roots took her attention off of Link for a moment to address the disgruntled looking Gale. "Hey Gale, sit with us today?"

Gale's expression brightened if only for a moment. "I'm sitting here, yes, but I'm going to have to ask you ladies to leave so I can have a quick word with Petrov."

"Oh, don't be so mean and make us move." Another girl pouted.

"I'm a mean bastard, so I _can_ make you move if I wanted to. Scram," Gale growled, his sly smile leaving him. After some protests, the girls gathered their belongings and left for a different table, and he heard one girl mumble to her friend "_he's so hot when he's angry._"

Once the girls were gone, Gale dropped into the seat across from Link and narrowed his eyes. He cut straight to the point. "What were you doing before you came here?"

Link munched on his turkey sandwich. The sound of lettuce crunching filled the silence. Gale's cheek twitched as he waited for an answer. Link sighed. "I was living in my car. I told you."

Gale's lips curled upward into a nasty grin. "Always? Were you always living in a car? Did your mother give birth to you there?" He scoffed. "What about grade school? How did you get your license even? If I was to guess, you didn't even have an education before, did you? It was obvious you knew nothing in chem."

"I just don't like chemistry," Link responded, not looking Gale in the eye.

"You couldn't do simple equations, you didn't know what the periodic table was, you knew _nothing_. I just thought you were stupid with nervousness during the first few days you came to school, but there's something else off with you. I wouldn't have found it weird if it weren't for all your other strange quirks." He took a bite from his hotdog, and then quickly took a drink of soda after he made a face. "Cough up. Where were you before the car? I bet you didn't even have a car."

Link quietly pushed his food aside and placed his hands in front of him, tapping his fingers together. "I had… a different education than you. And I did have a car."

"You didn't answer my question. _Where were you?_"

Link suddenly stood up and Gale followed suit. "That's personal." Gale looked none too happy.

"If I need to live with you I have a right to know you're someone I can trust, because right now, I don't trust you one bit."

Link turned around and began to walk away. Gale put a hand on his shoulder and applied a firm pressure to stop him. Link slowly moved the other teen's hand away, ignoring some glances from other students who had wondered if a fight was going to start. "Things will become easier to explain when you realize your real name."

The albino sounded exasperated. "This Vaati the Sorcerer bullshit again?"

The blond said nothing.

"At least show me the car. If you want someone to believe something, you need to have proof."

Link tilted his head. He seemed to consider something for a while, and then he finally said, "I'll see you after school."

Gale's bright red eyes followed Link's retreating back.

XXXXXXXX

After the dismissal bell rang, a tired Link was stopped by Gale who had his arms crossed in front of him. The skater teen cocked his head towards the exit, demanding him to hurry up. The two boys wordlessly walked out of school; Link with his hands in his pockets and Gale carrying his dervish under one arm. They didn't speak for a long while as they walked.

Occasionally, Link glanced around and behind his shoulder as though he were making sure no one was watching them. His peering around increased in frequency when they reached a small shopping outlet. This behavior made Gale suspicious. "Link," he began with a tone of warning, but was shushed by a wave of Link's gloved hand and an understanding nod.

"All right, all right." Link took a deep breath, crouching down between two cars as though he wanted to tie his shoes. He motioned Gale to do the same, and the two teens crouched out of sight behind the cars. Link drummed his fingers on his knee. "I actually don't have my car anymore. But – " he held up a hand, forcing Gale to quiet down so he could explain. "What I'm about to show you should answer one of your questions."

Gale looked confused. He watched Link stick his hands into the deep pockets of his jacket and rummage around for something.

"Understand I am placing a lot of trust in you by showing you this, and in return I ask for the same," Link said as he pulled out a bobby pin and a small screwdriver. He looked at Gale sternly. "Can I trust you on this?"

"Sure?" Gale shrugged.

In a minute, Link put his hand against the door of the bright red Ford Mustang they were sitting next to. Gale's jaw dropped when he saw Link twiddle around with the keyhole with his bobby pin and screwdriver. He broke a bobby pin once, but after his second one he masterfully managed to pick open the door. Gale never knew picking open a _car door_ with nothing but a bobby pin and a screwdriver was possible; obviously this Petrov kid was _good_.

With a bobby pin between his teeth, Link sat in the driver's seat of the sports car with a satisfied grin on his face. Then, he turned to Gale with an innocent smile as though he were saying, "there's the truth." Link jumped out of the car and began to walk home after closing the car door behind him, leaving the albino teen staring after him in disbelief. More questions popped up in Gale's puzzled head.

_So he steals cars? What the hell? Where did he learn that?! And what other things does he carry around in those gigantic coat pockets? I don't trust him at all!_

For the time being, it seemed Link was unwilling to explain more about his past. Gale let it slide because he was too shocked by what he had seen, but he trusted Petrov even less now. He didn't know what else that kid could do, and Gale didn't like it when he couldn't get a good read on someone. The only thing he knew for sure was that he didn't like Link Petrov at all. There was something off about him, and he rubbed him the wrong way. And his smile. Goddamn that kid was so likeable by everyone. Gale didn't believe someone could be truly good all the way to the core unless they were beyond mortals; even the best saints had a dark side to them. He would rather trust someone who shamelessly showed everyone their darker side instead of someone who had a pleasant outer exterior.

One of these days, he was going to get an explanation out of that kid that actually made sense.

XXXXXXXXXX

It had been roughly a month since Zelda had picked up the mysterious Skull Kid off the streets, and she was exhausted. From working on her college studies to taking care of some of the legal issues involving the boy, she had almost no time to relax. Now that she had gotten her father's approval to keep Skull Kid around, some of the stress had lifted from her shoulders. Zelda had brought him to the local police station to see if they could get any leads on his parents – having found none, they had agreed to allow the Sterlings keep him in their home until his real guardians came looking for him. All she needed now was a document for adoption and to enroll him in school and…

_I'm so tired_.

At least her father wasn't the type to ask many questions. He left her alone to be independent after her mother had passed away. He'd become quiet, and had changed his name from Sterling to Harkinian, probably because he didn't want to remember the times when there had once been three Sterlings and not just two. Zelda didn't know him anymore, and she doubted her father knew much about her either. They lived in separate worlds now, and if Zelda had brought home some orphan boy then it was her problem.

She heard his business was going well. She knew he would be leaving soon in a couple of months again on a business trip. She was ok with it; they never talked much anyway.

The monitor of her sleek pink Dell Inspiron laptop cast a faint glow on her face. She logged into her Gmail account, making sure her chat status was on 'invisible' since she didn't feel like talking to anyone today. She heard Skull Kid giggling in front of the TV downstairs; she had left him to watch Dekudeku Adventures, which would hopefully occupy him for at least an hour.

She quickly glanced over her mail to look for any that seemed important. There were a couple of messages from facebook saying some friends had commented on her status, a notice from Aeropostale about a sale, and other random messages here and there. One email, however, caught her eye and she leaned forward into her chair to take a better look. The subject line read "Grant offer for Ms. Sterling," and the email address was by someone she didn't know. It read:

_dugal h to me _

_Dear Ms. Zelda Sterling:_

_I would like to congratulate you on being invited to work with the research team of Dr. Stan Willits. The team is currently interested in the real world applications of energy manipulation, and we believe your current work on the manipulation properties of certain objects will be perfect for a joint collaboration project with Dr. Willits' work. _

_I have heard from reliable sources about your discovery of a possible zeron, or an object that can create energy distortions. Should you decide to accept this offer, you will be provided with a grant fully funded by Avilux I, an organization dedicated to expanding scientific knowledge by supporting innovative ideas. I will email you within the coming week to discuss a possible meeting with you to go over this offer. _

_I hope you will take up this wonderful opportunity. _

_Sincerely, _

_Halstead Dugal  
Avilux I Chief Executive Consultant_

Zelda stared at the screen. Full funding? Really? She read the message over and over again, daring her eyes to tell her she had misread it, but no matter how many times she reread the message it told her this Mr. Dugal and the organization he worked for was willing to fund her project.

Her breathing had quickened, excited at the prospect that people were beginning to show interest in the field of energy manipulation. She wasn't familiar with the term 'zeron;' it was likely a new word coined by one of the bigger labs working on the field. Maybe Dr. Willits himself coined it? Was she going to work with one of the leading scientists in the field of energy manipulation?

_Calm down. You're letting your imagination get to you._

Still, Dr. Willits was already working on "real world applications of energy manipulation." That was something. Zelda had thought that people were only attempting to understand it at the moment – to be able to think of putting it to use was way beyond what she and her coworkers had been working on. It was curious, then, that Dr. Willits' team hadn't gained greater notoriety yet: perhaps he wanted to wait until he was done with his current research to reveal his results with a bang. The field was still a joke to some scientists, and it would be better to have something ground shattering to give those nonbelievers a good wakeup call.

In any event, this was a huge step for Zelda. By working on a joint project with the Willits lab, maybe she can finally move forward in unraveling the mysteries of energy manipulation and Skull Kid's ocarina? The community college she worked at just didn't have the resources – this offer could help her.

Taking a deep breath, Zelda began to type a reply.

_Dear Mr. Dugal:_

* * *

**Shadow Blues:** lol to the Zelda comment XD. Such is the life of Vaati, but it makes it all the more amusing for people like me kekeke

**Astral S. Kepeire: **Link - They think you're Vaati too.

Gale - You're the one who started the rumor, jerk.

**Death-Note-Zelda-Kitty: **Link just never gets the hint, though in this chapter the roles were somewhat reversed. There's going to be a different dynamic for those two in this story from BC ;)

**Midna Hytwilian: **What IS up with Link and Skull Kid, ne? And gosh, Link, picking locks now. XP Hopefully these two will make sense later on, but for now, we'll just let Gale puzzle over them bwahaha

**Reily96: **I hope they didn't kill him off for good D: Zelda's a true scientist - gotta make sacrifices XD She's tired, and she still hasn't realized Skull Kid's a bad idea (whistles innocently)

**marium: **Dundundun... oh Zelda. Don't worry about Link and Gale - Gale's just being uncooperatingly sour. Like always.

**drydrydesert: **I have some pictures up on my devart account under the name fleetfleets :). It was a little difficult figuring out how to keep them in character - I'm happy it's working!

**DarkLinkvsRaineSagefan101: **I was thinking of splitting that chapter in two, but I'm glad I decided to keep it as one. :)

**Darkwind: **lol he should've. But he thinks there's no way a sorcerer who was mistaken to be the good looking Gale could also be an ugly monster. Nope. Orbit! (goes off to buy some for our albino sailor).

**Bishieluver01: **Whatever gave you that idea? (whispers back) psst don't tell anyone ;)  
Yes. I am. Good lord. I guess it wasn't so temporary then XD. Zelda got a teensy bit technical there. I guess in basic terms, she studies things that disobey normal physics laws (we would call it magic, but that word is highly taboo in the scientific world).  
Link would meet Zelda at some point. That should be interesting.

_

* * *

_


	7. On the Other Side of the World

fleets: I miss sleep :(

* * *

**Chapter 6: On the Other Side of the World**

_Listen carefully._

_No, you are no longer in the world you knew. You are in the far future. I am sorry. I know you didn't want to believe it, but it is the truth. _

_There isn't much time. We need your help, and if you do not succeed, then this world will surely die. The scene you just saw of the terrible flood is what will happen if you fail. Your task is to find Skull Kid and to return to your rightful era with the Ocarina of Time, but…_

… _in the event that you cannot reach Skull Kid in time, you will have to find another person. His name is Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds. _

_Let me explain better, but before I do so remember this:_

_He is not to be trusted._

XXXXXXXXX

Link scrunched his brows together as he stared hard at the words written on the worksheet. It was weird: he could read everything perfectly, and he could read it even at times when he didn't want to read anything. His eyes took in the words, and they read them.

It was with almost everything in this future world. He could do things innately as though his body just _knew_ how to do things. He knew what cell phones were, knew how to read and even write the strange characters that were nothing like Hylian. He didn't know how he knew that he was in the United States of America, that he needed dollars for currency, and that horses as a means of transportation was outdated. Heck, he even knew what to do with screw drivers and bobby pins. If he knew that trick before, he wouldn't have had to use keys in dungeons.

All the knowledge he needed to survive in this world was somehow in his head when he had accidentally arrived with Skull Kid. The melody Skull Kid had played on the Ocarina of Time had sent them to the future where Hyrule had disappeared into myth. The overwhelming information he had suddenly gained had stunned him longer than it had stunned Skull Kid, and the two had become separated when the imp had run away.

The plea for help had come in the form of dreams at night; fragmented images of a magnificent floating palace, six maidens, and an ancient magic that would flood the world in an attempt to stop a powerful evil. At first he had dismissed it as a nightmare of sorts, but it had been far too real for that. The goddess Farore had appeared and had told him what he had to do to save the world from the spell that would sink the continents.

He had been given the responsibility.

_If only that jackass Vaati would realize who he was. Things would be so much easier. There wasn't much time…_

Well, maybe. He didn't know too much about the sorcerer who had tried to take over the world – Vaati was from a time much older than the era he had come from, and he had only heard vague stories about Hyrule's dark times when it had been assaulted by Vaati's failed attempts to take over it. The way Farore had described him… the goddess had looked disgusted and ashamed when speaking about him, like he was some vile demon. If Vaati recognized his true identity, would he have the sense to help Link save the world from apocalypse, or be stupid and try to kill him? The sorcerer seemed to have some sense about him, so Link hoped he wouldn't do anything rash, but at times it seemed as though Link's mere presence caused Vaati to have a temper. Like he reminded him of someone unpleasant.

And in a future where the knowledge of magic had all but died, who would be able to stop a power crazed sorcerer who was – from what Farore described – hell bent on taking over the world?

"Link, you're writing with your eyes closed again."

Link opened his eyes and saw what his hand had been doing while his mind had been wandering. His pencil had begun to work on the exercises on the worksheet, but he could tell that he had spelled words wrong again. _This is so weird!_ He could read stuff, but he couldn't write stuff. Opal stared at his worksheet.

"Well, I don't know much about English, and I'm not the best person to ask, but I can tell you at least this much: writing with your eyes closed isn't going to help you… well… write."

Link looked around. They were at the language resource center for quiet study, and the teaching assistant was currently helping someone at the far side of the room. Not wanting to bother asking for help, he turned to the physics wiz sitting next to him. "What am I doing wrong?"

"Don't be stupid. Start with looking at what you're writing."

"But I can't seem to write when I'm looking at what I'm doing."

Opal arched her brows. "That's weird." She leaned over and took a better look at what Link had written. "Hmmm. You seem to be writing by going through what words sound like. They're mostly, no offense, elementary school mistakes. Like right here – you spelled 'historically' as 'historicalee' with two e's instead of a y."

Everything Opal had said went right over Link's head. "I don't get it."

"Dang, this is going to take a while," the girl shook her head. "How are you doing in other subjects?"

"Terrible." Link slumped down in his seat. Why did the people in the future care so much about education? He thought he could do perfectly well in society with the simple knowledge of self-defense and a specialty like wrangling to make a living.

Opal grinned. "Do you need help in physics by any chance?"

The blond nodded grudgingly.

The girl slapped him on the back, suddenly cheerful. She quickly put away her English work. "All right! I'm the best person to ask about physics. Since I'm bored stiff doing English and you need help in physics anyways, I'll be nice and help you out. It's a win-win deal."

Link blinked. "Er…"

"Come on, you can think of it as doing _me _a favor because I don't want to sit here and do this literature crap," Opal hissed.

"Ok."

"Great! Are you ready? I'm going to give you a lecture that goes beyond what those muppets who call themselves teachers teach you poor souls. Grab a pencil – you're going to be writing."

XXXXXXXX

When school ended, Gale found Link and Opal speaking quite heatedly to each other. By his locker.

_Can't they do this elsewhere and not in front of my locker? _When Gale walked closer, he could hear bits and pieces of their conversation.

"Look, Zelda's really busy with her work and I'm not sure she would like being bothered by someone who doesn't even know what kinetic energy is."

"I'm willing to learn! I would really like to meet this person, Opal."

"Everything I tried to teach you went over your head today, and you were as interested in physics as a cat is to water. She's dealing with much more advanced topics – you're not up to that level yet."

"Well, I… I want to know more about her newest discovery."

"You know, telling you about the zeron was a bad idea. The only reason she told me was because she wanted to know what I thought about it. It's still confidential."

"Why can't I see her?"

"Do you have a crush on her or something?"

"…no."

"You're blushing."

"That's not the point. I'm just interested in the new discovery because I think it has something to do with me."

"You're not one of her stalkers are you?"

"He's a stalker. I can vouch for that." Gale walked up and the two suddenly stopped talking. "Can you two take this somewhere else so I can get my stuff? Thanks."

Opal stepped to the side, but Link remained where he was. He stopped Gale with his hand. "Wait. Listen."

Gale made a face and was considering shoving him to the side, but then he remembered how Link had been able to twist his arm and throw him to the floor when Gale had tried to punch him. He was not going to risk being humiliated in front of half the school, so he stood and waited sourly.

Link took a deep breath. "Do you know if Zelda's met a boy with an ocarina?"

The girl remained quiet for some time. Finally, she turned her heel and crossed her arms over her chest, upset by something. "It's always Zelda who ends up getting everything. Fame, money, looks… everything!" She sneered. "Why would I know anything about Zelda anyway? We're not even that close. We talk only because I'm better than her at physics and she needs my opinions."

Gale snorted. "Someone's jealous."

"I'm not jealous! Just because she goes to college and gets these huge grant offers, she thinks she's the next Nobel Prize winner. I can do better."

"And yet here you are almost failing high school and getting no grant offers."

Opal glared. "It's not like you're doing any better." Then, in an instant, her shoulders slumped and she gave a defeated sigh. Turning to Link, she nodded with some difficulty. "All right, I admit I'm jealous. The zeron is an ocarina that belongs to some boy who Zelda picked up off the streets. Seriously, if it weren't for him she wouldn't have gotten that ridiculous grant offer."

Link grabbed Gale's arm excitedly. "That's him! We found him Gale, we found Skull Kid!"

"I _said_ don't touch me."

Opal blinked. "Oh, you were looking for him?"

"Yes, he was," Gale muttered resentfully.

The girl tapped her chin as though in thought before she smiled wickedly. "Well in that case, I assume you're related to the kid somehow?"

Link nodded, though somewhat hesitantly.

The wicked grin grew wider. "Zelda just might lose custody over him," Opal mused. She practically cackled. "What an unfortunate delay this will cause her research, huh?"

"You're a bitch."

"Oh come on, Gale. I just gained an incentive to let you visit my frienemy, Zelda Sterling. I can convince her to meet you guys, no matter how pathetic you are with physics," she smiled sweetly.

"I actually have no interest whatsoever in meeting Zelda," Gale said. It was a big fat lie, of course. He didn't want to encounter anything that would give Link more evidence that his crackpot claims were right, but at the same time he was interested in Skull Kid. From what Opal had said, the kid who had stopped him with his ocarina was key to a new scientific theory. What made him so important to catch enough interest to grant full funding, and why did Link know him? What did Link and Skull Kid have to do with zerons, whatever _those_ were?

But even if he was interested, he didn't want anything to do with Link. Gale had a feeling that if he tagged along with Link to retrieve more information on Skull Kid, he was going to sink even further to a point of no return with Link's crazy stories.

"You don't really have a choice, Gale, because Link doesn't have an email address and I'm just going to have to give her yours instead. What was it again?"

Gale frowned.

"She's very pretty," Opal snickered.

"demoneye921 on Gmail."

"You're so predictable." The girl scribbled the address down on a piece of paper and stuffed it in her pocket. "I'll let Zelda know you two want to see her. I assume she'll email you later."

Link nodded, and asked Gale to pay attention to his messages. The blond couldn't believe his luck that he had been able to find Skull Kid along with Zelda.

He had not expected to hear Zelda's name in this day and age, but at the same time, he wasn't surprised.

When disaster was about to strike, the three chosen had a tendency to appear momentarily in history like a summer mirage…

XXXXXXXX

_show details__ November 6 (2 hours ago)_

_magicprincess to me _

_I heard you and your friend wanted to speak to me? Opal told me this had something to do with Skull Kid, and that I don't have to worry about you being a stalker. Do you want to meet at the Starbucks near Griffin Street at 1:00 this Saturday? _

_Best,  
Zelda Sterling_

Gale read the message and held his head in his hands. Seriously? "Magicprincess?" This girl sounded a lot more spoiled than he'd taken her for; maybe Opal actually had a good reason not to like her so much. Either that or Zelda was a girly girl. Or both.

"Yo Petrov!"

Link poked his head from his room. "What?"

"Zelda wants to meet up at 1 this Saturday."

"Yeah sure. Tell her I'll go. And you're coming too."

Gale growled, not really in the mood to argue. He quickly typed back a reply.

_To: magicprincess_

_Yeah we'll be there. _

_-Gale_

XXXXXXXXX

Zelda scrutinized the two teens that had walked into Starbucks. She was pretty sure the two were Gale Engst and Link Petrov from the way both of them craned their necks around the place as though they were looking for someone. She didn't know which one of them stood out more: one of the boys had silver hair, red eyes, and a dark crescent scar above his cheekbone like someone from a vampire movie, and his almost permanent scowl was half hidden by the bangs he had draped over his right eye. He stood with an oddly proud slouch, and he guardedly carried his longboard under the crook of his arm.

The other boy looked like some poor country kid – there was an aura of innocence or 'goodness' around him, and Zelda was sure he was popular with all the neighborhood moms and old ladies, along with the girls who were into the cute type instead of bad boys. But that was based on facial features alone. He dressed like a rebellious teen with a sleeveless, green denim trench coat and fingerless black gloves, and she would bet twenty dollars that he carried oddities in those huge pockets. She couldn't put a finger on it. He seemed… what's a good word? Quirky, perhaps? Like he didn't fit in here, and not in the loser reject sense but actually, _actually_ didn't belong here. Like an alien.

She watched the skater say something to the blond, and then walk over to order a coffee while his friend continued to look left and right to find Zelda. _They have to be one of the weirdest pairs I've ever seen._ The girl reached into her bag and carefully felt around for her can of pepper spray, just in case. _Then again, Skull Kid was pretty weird, too, and they know him_.

Zelda raised her hand slightly when the blond looked her way, and his face lit up in a smile when they made eye contact. It was then she choked up a bit; when she looked into his eyes she felt a subliminal itch. It was almost like déjà vu, where she felt this wasn't the first time she was meeting this person.

"Hi, my name is Link. Link Petrov." The teen held out his hand and she shook it tentatively.

"Zelda Sterling."

He took a seat across from her and the two sat somewhat awkwardly for a few minutes. _He's not much of a talker_, Zelda thought, waiting politely since he was the one who had requested to talk to her in the first place. Just when she was about to stand up and leave in annoyance from Link's behavior, the silver haired skater came up and boldly took her hand.

"You must be Ms. Sterling. I'm Gale Engst," he smiled suavely, sitting between her and Link and sliding the coffee cup on the table. Zelda quickly withdrew her hand and gave him a tight-lipped frown.

"Yes. Opal mentioned you wanted to speak to me about Skull Kid." She kept her tone as business-like as possible. Gale pretended to take offense.

"Link wanted to talk to you about Skull Kid. I, on the other hand, just wanted to see if you were as pretty as your name."

"I heard about you. You're that loser who breaks as many hearts as he gets detentions in school."

"Touché. But I'm flattered that word of me has reached your ears."

Zelda turned to Link sternly. "Did you have something important to say, or am I free to leave?"

"Sorry," Link scratched his head. "I was thinking of where to begin."

"You said you know Skull Kid?" Zelda prompted.

"Yes."

"How?"

"He's my cousin's sister's brother-in-law's son."

Gale almost spit out the coffee he had been drinking. He stood up to excuse himself momentarily to recover from a sudden bout of violent coughing. _Fucking liar_. Link, meanwhile, sat there with a complete poker face and Zelda glanced over at Gale's reaction.

"Really," she stated, not entirely convinced. Link nodded. "Can you describe him to me? I have to make sure you're telling me the truth."

"Um…" Link looked back at Gale for help, since he was the only one out of the two of them who had actually encountered Skull Kid. Gale blinked.

"Huh?"

"_What did Skull Kid look like?_" Link mouthed desperately. He watched Gale shake his head, hoping he would be cooperative just this once. Finally, after a torturous wait, Gale decided to help him out for reasons unknown.

"Small brat. Around ten. He's got reddish hair, yellowish eyes, and is tan."

_Thank god_. Link chuckled weakly under the skeptical gaze of Zelda. "Sorry. I haven't seen him in a while so I didn't know how to describe him."

"Of course." Zelda's eyebrows were high arches.

"Gale's my cousin."

"I'm getting more coffee," Gale announced, and abruptly left the table in a foul mood. Zelda sighed.

"I think I may have wasted your time today, Link," she began. She was considering leaving again when she heard Link whisper hoarsely.

"… I have to find him."

The blond looked at her with such intensity that Zelda began to feel guilty. His face was like a puppy's that had been kicked to the streets; so sad and hopeless. After all, didn't she herself maybe kidnap Skull Kid? She hadn't really tried to find out who his relatives were, and maybe he really was Link's cousin's sister's… whatever it was? And there was another thing about his expression that got to her: his blue eyes told her he knew her longer than this quick meeting at Starbucks one Saturday in November.

Again, that déjà vu feeling…

Zelda pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry. I would let you meet Skull Kid if I could, but I can't."

"But why? I'm really related to him."

Zelda looked at the ceiling. "That's not the problem. The problem is, he's not in New Jersey anymore. Well, he's not in the United States anymore."

Link turned the same shade as Gale.

"And what I mean by not in the United States… well… he's on the other side of the world right now."

After several tries, Link managed to find his voice. "Wh-what do you mean?"

Zelda bit her lip. "What I mean, Link, is that Skull Kid is currently in Japan."

* * *

fleets: I TOLD you this story was going to be crazy. Good luck, Link, Vaati... i mean Gale. The author has decided to put you through random crap once again, and it's only going to get worse. XD  
Since many of you were wondering about Link's lock picking skills:  
There's an answer to this that will (hopefully) make you all go "oooohhh." Because believe me I know in the games he definitely does NOT know how to pick locks and even breaks keys once he uses them (the klutz). For uber careful readers, there's a hint in the car breaking scene in the last chapter that has the reason for why I decided to make Link a lock picker (but I'd be really surprised if anyone gets this. The easiest thing to do will be to wait it out for the lightbulb moment in the future chapters). ;)

**Shadow Blues: **Yes! I luff Dugal, but unfortunately he won't be making an official appearance until a couple of more chapters in the future :(  
Pffft, math. Sometimes I question if I really need to know sinx is opposite over hypotenuse. blearrrgh.

**Death-Note-Zelda-Kitty: **Link's not so goody goody in this one XP

**Reily96: **No, he's not. But he's still got that innocent face XD. YES DUGAL! But sadly he won't be really appearing until much later :(

**drydrydesert: **Aw, thank you. I'll try to keep up the standard. :)

**Astral S. Kepeire: **I wonder if you can tell how much I'm enjoying looking up brand names of things just for the sake of putting it into the story :P

**Midna Hytwilian: **I always wondered why the people in the games just let Link break their stuff. O.o;  
The mystery continues...  
Oh no! Feel better! :(

**101: **Link wonders the same thing lol. After all, Gale is pretty much Vaati (but don't tell him I said that). Hmmm, Opal's gotten a more important role than I'd first intended. :)  
Don't be sorry! In fact, writers (at least me, anyways) love long reviews! :D  
Go for it. I'll be on the lookout.  
I don't know about Dark Link. He might be... but I'll have to think about it. At the moment, I'm not sure where and how I'll be able to include him. :/

**Darkwind:** It'll make sense once I get to a certain scene...

**marium: **They're up to something, all right. And poor Gale is upset because he's out of the loop XD

**Peka The Corsair: **Lol, Zelda breaks the trend (about time, too!). Don't worry, Link wonders the same thing. XD

**Bishieluver01: **Hmmm, but executive consultants are usually company hotshots who get tons of money, and they're one of the key advisors in making a company run (*whispers* don't worry, I won't tell him you called him a front desk secretary XD). He IS pish posh though lol. Ya hear that Dugal?

Dugal: That's simply trivial for me, dear.


	8. Preparations

fleets: uurgh, one of the shorter chapters but I couldn't find a way around it. sorries. on a better note, I updated this earlier than usual (smiles for appeasement)

Dugal: Avilux I is ashamed by your mediocrity. We prefer people on either end of the spectrum: winners or failures. Mediocre employees are the worst kind in any business - not good enough to keep, yet not bad enough to kick out the back door with satisfaction. And before you say anything, yes, I am annoyed I have yet to make an appearance.

fleets: ...uhhh. ignore us please.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Preparations**

"What I mean, Link, is that Skull Kid is currently in Japan."

Link blanched. She had to be joking. But why would she joke about something like that? From the way her pretty face was pulled taut in a serious frown, she sounded like she was serious. _Oh, I know why. _"He's still in America, but you're lying to me because you don't believe I told you the truth earlier."

Zelda swirled her drink with her straw and said tiredly, "I'm not really sure if you're telling me the truth or not, but what I'm saying is true. Skull Kid moved to Japan a week ago to the people who are funding my project. They were more eligible for taking care of the boy because I'm still a minor and my father's not really a reliable parent." She said the last part with a tinge of bitterness, and then stuck her gaze firmly on the window as though she were ashamed she had let a piece of her personal life into the conversation. Zelda continued. "It made more sense for Skull Kid to go to the research facility in Japan because the lab I'll be working on a joint project with, the Willits lab, has more resources than what Ariko Community College can offer."

"Oh…" Link's voice was tiny by this point. His fingers tapped on the table erratically as he considered this new problem. Meanwhile, Gale returned to the table after having done a slow lap around Starbucks.

Zelda noted his empty hands. "I thought you were going to get another coffee?"

Gale glanced down, and then shrugged. "I decided I didn't really feel like coffee anymore."

Link suddenly spoke up, staring pointedly at the spot in the middle of the table. "Zelda, you said you were going to work on a joint project with the Willits lab?"

Zelda nodded while Gale leaned back and watched the two with disinterest.

"How will that work out if Skull Kid is in Japan and you're staying here?"

"I'm going to visit during winter break to catch up with the project. During second semester, I'm going to apply for a gap year so I can study abroad over at the Willits lab and hopefully gain something out of it."

"Will it be possible for us to go with you during winter break?"

Zelda coughed. "What?"

"WHAT? And you did not just say _us_." Gale was sitting bolt upright now.

Link looked calmly at both of them. "I just wanted to know if there was a way for us to tag along when you visited during winter break. We'll pay for transportation if that's a problem. We just really need to meet Skull Kid."

Heads turned as a disturbingly sinister laugh erupted from Gale. "I'm sorry, this is just too funny. Since when did _you_ become _we_? And though having a vacation in Japan sounds exciting, I would rather go with better company than you."

"Please excuse him. He's still upset that he lost to me in arm-wrestling yesterday and owes me ten dollars for a bet. I'm sure he'll come around sometime."

"Holy hell. Lies just spew out of your mouth, don't they?"

"As you can see, he's in denial."

"I did not lose in arm wrestling! We never even arm-wrestled! I can beat you if we actually arm-wrestled."

Link appeared surprised. "Do you want to bet another ten dollars?"

Gale opened his mouth, ready to accept the challenge, when he remembered he still didn't know what Petrov could do. Not wanting to make a fool of himself in front of Zelda, he mumbled flatly, "This is stupid."

"Point proven."

"Screw this." Gale stood up again. A mischievous smirk appeared on Link's otherwise flat expression.

"Another coffee? Can you get me one too?"

Gale made a rude gesture at which Zelda frowned disapprovingly, and he stormed off to angrily stare at the menu without the intention of buying anything. Link turned his attention back to the slightly flustered looking girl.

"So, what do you think? Is there a way for us to meet Skull Kid during winter break as well?"

"Um," her dainty features puffed into a pout as she thought hard. "I guess so," she finally replied uncertainly. "I don't know how you're going to find a place to stay for over two weeks, and it's during the holidays so you have to be aware that you won't be able to see your family during that time, and – "

"Where will you be staying?"

Zelda blinked. "Are you really not a stalker?"

"I just want to know how you're managing to stay over there so I can figure out if we have the same options as you."

"My funder, Avilux I, is providing everything for me."

"In that case, can you drop in a word to Avilux I, saying I'm Skull Kid's relative who wants to meet him and know he's ok? I have a right to meet him."

"I'm not sure…"

"Please."

"All right. I'll tell Mr. Dugal about your situation," she sighed. "Is that all?"

Link considered the question for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. Can you send us information about winter break when you have time?"

Zelda replied yes.

"Thanks a lot for your help Zelda." His smile was so sincere that Zelda suddenly became willing to forgive him for his eccentricities. They stood up together and Link went off to find Gale who was still glowering at the menu and causing the man at the register to fidget. Zelda heard him snap "took you long enough," as they made for the door. The skater walked past the girl, abruptly changing his annoyed countenance to a soft, apologetic one as he asked her if he could do anything to make up for Link's behavior. Zelda shrugged him off, noting from the corner of her eye how his concerned smile had switched into a sly one that she felt represented his true intentions. She wasn't going to be one of those foolish girls that ended up playing along with his devilish game.

Just before they parted ways, Zelda asked one question that had been nagging her ever since she had met Skull Kid. "Hey Link?"

The blond teen turned around.

"Is Skull Kid… well, is that his real name?"

Link nodded.

"Oh." Zelda stood a little awkwardly. "Um, I just thought it was an unusual name, is all."

More awkward silence. Why was Link so awkwardly silent all the time?

"Uh… bye."

"Bye angel."

Link definitely did not say that. Zelda glared at Gale who was trying not to crack up, and ignored the fact he gave her a quick wink when she'd turned for the glare.

_Douche bag_.

Zelda walked briskly away. Even as she got into her car, she couldn't get that mocking face out of her head in her annoyance.

XXXXXXXXX

_Do you know anything about the old legends, Link? You have already become a part of one when you defeated Ganondorf and stopped his reign of terror, but there were real heroes who had fought like you did many years ago. _

_In one such story, there was an evil sorcerer consumed by greed and obsessed with power. He went after the powerful Light Force much like Ganondorf did, and attempted to bring the world under his dark influence._

_Being a sorcerer of winds, the vile mage destroyed what was left of the Wind Tribe and took the Palace of Winds as his own. For mortals not blessed with the magic of warping, the floating castle was only accessible through the Four Elements and the blessings of the six shrine maidens. In the sorcerer's last attack on Hyrule, he sealed away the maidens and cursed the knights who were guarding the elements in an attempt to close off all paths leading to his stronghold._

_The hero prevailed, of course. Over time, the royal family decided to keep the four elements within the Palace of Winds itself, and the spirits of the maidens along with them. This was to ensure the path to the palace would never be opened again, and that meddling hands would never touch the elements. _

_This is the story behind the Sorcerer of Winds known as Vaati. _

_I see you are wondering why he has managed to become reincarnated in the future. Well, there was an unforeseen problem that Vaati had caused just before his demise…_

XXXXXXXXXX

"Petrov!"

Link looked around the corner and down the hallway towards Gale's room. It was puzzling how Gale had declared he wanted nothing to do with Link, yet the teen always seemed to be calling his name for one reason or another. Maybe the poor kid just wanted attention. "Hm?"

Wheels squeaked across the grey carpeting as Gale pushed his chair out of his room into Link's view. He didn't look too happy, but then again, did he ever? "Can you get your own email address for Din's sake?"

"Did someone send me a message?" Link walked over to Gale's room.

The paler teen snapped angrily. "Yes. And by some guy named Halstead Dugal who sounds like a total tool."

"Oh him. Zelda gave me his address so I could ask him about finding a place to stay and transportation. I sent him a message earlier."

"Using my account," Gale said sourly.

"I don't have an email account."

"Then get one! It's not that hard!"

"I thought this would be the best way to get you to see what's going on with regards to winter break," Link stated nonchalantly. He quickly read through the email message that the Chief Executive Consultant had sent. "Oh look!" he perked up, "Dugal says he'll be able to get us tickets to Japan and rooms at Hilton Tokyo."

"I'm not going."

"I was worried he was going to turn us down, but he seems willing to meet us. Thank Nayru for spell check; I don't know what I would've done without it." Link looked pleased with himself. "Do you have a passport, Gale?"

"I'm not going," Gale repeated stubbornly.

Link took a deep breath. "Even if I tell you that you'll never ever have to see me again once we come back from the trip?"

"What part of 'I'm not going' do you not unders… what?" Gale leaned forward. "Really?"

"If you come with me to Japan this time and meet Skull Kid with me," Link repeated slowly, "I promise I'll move out of this house and you'll never have to see me ever again."

Gale tried to see if the other teen was lying again, but it was hard to tell with Link since he could make his face almost expressionless. He began to consider the different scenarios. The cons were that he was going to be with Link, he was going to have to endure a fourteen-hour plane trip with Link, and he was going to be stuck in a foreign country with Link. Basically, the cons boiled down to being stuck with Link, and for Gale, that was a significant con.

The pros weren't very many. He was going to Japan, a country he'd always been interested in visiting, and there was a possibility that Link would leave him forever. The first pro was minor, but the second one…

If Link spoke true, which was difficult to gauge since he was such a liar, then the second pro would outweigh every single con Gale could come up with.

Link waited patiently as the cogs in Gale's head clicked to a conclusion. "Deal."

Link smiled. "That's great! So, do you have a passport?"

Gale cautiously allowed himself to feel happy about the prospect of never having to see Link again. "Yeah I have a passport. Gramps renewed it last year, too, since he was planning to volunteer me to a community service thing overseas to get me to be 'more appreciative' about things."

"Does Grandpa Loze have a passport?"

"Yeah he has one too. Couldn't have his delinquent grandson go to South America by himself without making sure he would be sensible enough to show proper manners to the locals," Gale rolled his eyes at the thought. Then, something struck Link's question as odd. The albino appeared confused as he asked, "Hold on, why do you need to know if Gramps has a passport? You're not thinking of taking him along, too? Because then I would have to go back on the deal and call it quits."

Link stretched and stuck his hands behind his head in a carefree way, grinning innocently. "I don't know why I asked that, actually." He watched Gale stare at him with suspicion. "Oh, don't worry about it," he said, and walked out of the room.

_Don't worry about it my ass,_ Gale thought, turning back to his computer. He stared flatly at the email that stiff-neck Dugal had sent, and went against his instinct to delete the email that was a part of Link's crackpot idea. He dropped his head against the keyboard and sighed tiredly. _Just one winter break, and things will be good again Gale. No more Link, no more shit bucket Vaati stories, no more Dugal, unfortunately no more Zelda unless I get her number…_

_Actually… scratch the last one because I already have her email address hehehe._

_Just one winter break. One. That's not so bad, right?_

* * *

**Shadow Blues: **The sin function from trig. I use it 0% in real life situations, rendering it completely useless (growls). Zelda wasn't lying about SK in Japan XD

**Death-Note-Zelda-Kitty: **Of course I wouldn't let Gale and Link figure out how to solve their problems so easily hehe.

**Midna Hytwilian: **You're hooked on Vaati now too? Yayz for Vaati fans! hmmm... well... send me a note on devart regarding email.

**marium: **Actually, Zelda wasn't lying unbelievable as it may sound lol. But I guess Link lies enough for the both of them. XD Thank you!

**LinkxDarkLink: **Hello! (waves) Your new name is so much easier to type lol. Whoot Japan! One of the top ranking tourist spots in the world according to... a newsarticle I forget what. O.o;

**Peka The Corsair: **Gale's not actually Vaati, Zelda's not actually Zelda... but Link is actually Link. The adult timeline Ocarina of Time Link, to be precise. I know, it confuses me too. D:

**Bishieluver01: **I say Link was randomly teleported there along with SK, and that Vaati (excuse me, GALE) and Zelda were also randomly there as well. It's not a coincidence they were in the same general area though. The quick version of explaining this is is that (in this story world) the three bits of triforce become attracted to each other and somehow finds a way to be close to each other in times of approaching crisis. Hence Link warped to NJ where Zelda was. Vaati was around Zelda because ________ (explained later). Ignore Ganondorf for now. The location of Hyrule is a mystery ;)

**Reily96: **Gale's not done flirting yet heehee.  
Link: (hugs jacket tightly)  
fleets: You do know that that's only an invitation for fangirls to violently glomp you, right?  
Link: ... O.O;

**Tricksters Imagination: **You bring up a good point, because I'm still in the middle of trying to figure out where Nintendo fits in all of this hehe.

**Darkwind: **Indeed, that is one of the most random reviews I've received to date lol


	9. Thanksgiving

fleets: okay guys, I'm still kinda on hiatus due to stuff going on in my real life (holy crap! the author has a life!). And because of that, I was only able to cough out this shortish chapter... but I figured that one chapter was better than no chapter.

Originally supposed to have been submitted in time for Thanksgiving, but that never happened because life got in the way.

Ah, life. Why are you so wonderful and evil at the same time?

* * *

**Chapter 8: Thanksgiving **

_The sorcerer knew he was going to meet his end one day, even if he had gained the powers close to godhood. Even if he did not fall by the blade of the Hero, Vaati would have eventually succumbed to the power of Time. Seeing it as a weakness instead of an eternal, restful sleep, Vaati opted to study a spell that would allow his spirit to remain on mortal soil forever. _

_With his powerful sorcery, the Wind Mage was able to succeed in creating magic that would allow him to be reborn every time he died. Unbeknownst to him, he had trapped himself in a curse he could not escape from, for every time he died his knowledge of sorcery would be unreachable to him. He would become someone who he could not bear to be: a simple commoner without any magical powers. His dark energy would naturally repel everyone, and his reincarnations would not know why they were so avoided. His reincarnations would be eternally dissatisfied with their life for reasons unknown to them, and though ambitious, each one would not be able to find a direction in life. _

_The only way for his true self to reawaken is if his reincarnation were able to find some trigger to have the old memories resurface. _

_It will not be easy, for these kinds of dark arts that Vaati had so foolishly indulged himself in are curses more than anything. _

_We goddesses feel no pity for him. It is a fitting punishment for one who had been consumed with greed and malice. However…_

_In the light of what may happen to the world…_

_If you do not succeed with Skull Kid, you will most surely have to find a way to break the curse and reawaken the true Sorcerer of Winds._

XXXXXXXXX

"It's nice having more than two people sitting around the turkey, eh, Gale?"

Gale huffed, leaning back in his chair rather rudely as though he couldn't care less. Grandpa Loze pretended not to notice his grandson's behavior and smiled amiably to Link who was sitting on the other side of him.

"Usually on Thanksgiving it's just me and Gale, which quickly becomes a pathetic dinner as you can imagine. Especially since Gale doesn't seem to appreciate the holiday at all."

"Gramps, we never even have a turkey. You call a plate of lame instant mash potatoes 'Thanksgiving dinner?'" Gale scoffed. He eyed the roasted bird that was sitting in the middle of the table, slightly skeptical that there was actually turkey this year.

"Nonsense! Last year we had turkey," Loze countered indignantly.

"Yeah. A turkey sandwich." The teen rolled his eyes. "Not that I care. I just resent the fact you expect me to act all gratuitous for the holiday when I don't even like the food. Besides, Thanksgiving is just a nice way to hide the fact that we basically raped North America right afterwards. Pilgrims and Indians holding hands my ass."

Loze sighed as he turned to Link. "Can you imagine what Christmas is like with this boy?" He ignored Gale sniff. "Have you ever celebrated Thanksgiving before?"

"No. I never really had the chance."

"Well that's unfortunate."

"Yeah. You _really_ missed out."

"Gale! There's no place for sarcasm when we have guests during the holidays!"

"I wasn't being sarcastic, gramps. Geez, can we just eat and get this over with already? This is ridiculous."

"Link, I apologize but this isn't what Thanksgiving is usually like in most households," Loze shook his head.

Link laughed. "Oh no, it's all right. I'm thankful enough that you've let me stay here as it is." The old man beamed at the teen's comment while Gale glowered silently aside.

"You're such a nice lad." He snapped at Gale. "Gale! This is Thanksgiving after all – share what you're thankful for."

"Seriously?"

"Yes. You're ungrateful for too many things in the world. Take Link's example and try to appreciate your life."

"We didn't do this last yea –"

"Stop whining like a girl, you spoiled brat. One more complaint out of you and you're not eating tonight."

Gale glared at Link who was snickering with his eyes. How he wanted to punch him from across the table… but Petrov did have that nasty block. Tight lipped, he crossed his arms and muttered, "I'm thankful I still have my sanity."

"I'd question that."

Gale's head snapped towards Link who still had that plastered innocent grin. It seemed gramps hadn't noticed him say anything. Link appeared to be enjoying himself too much when he cocked his head with an expression that asked, "what?" Oblivious to the exchange, Loze interrupted Gale's glarefest.

"That's a start. I'm thankful that we have been able to have a new member in our family – it's livelier here now, compared to just me and my idiot of a grandson. But idiot or no, I'm thankful I have him with me."

Gale coughed, appearing very uncomfortable. A few minutes passed, and then Gale reached over and dragged a bowl of mashed potatoes towards him. "We're eating."

Loze grunted, and the three began to quietly pass dishes around. The only noise around the table was the soft tinkling of the silverware and the various munching from around the table. It wasn't an awkward sort of quiet, however: Link had noticed that while Gale and his grandfather managed to coexist in the household, for the most part both parties usually pretended the other didn't exist. In Loze's case, Link assumed it was because the quirky old man never realized how lacking his social skills were – gramps didn't see the silence as an issue. As for Gale, aka Vaati, well, he wasn't sociable to begin with and Link could tell his grandfather got on his nerves. Big surprise there; pretty much everyone besides the fairer sex got on the pale kid's nerves.

The feeling began as a tiny itch. Link knew that he should ignore it since the other two seemed oblivious to the silence. _It's not that it's awkward, but this is a weird way to celebrate a holiday…_

Link's knife on the turkey decelerated. _And now that I thought "awkward," it's really awkward._

He fidgeted. He looked to his right where grandpa Loze was busy with the cranberry sauce. He looked across the table at the landscape of sheer bluish-purplish white hair from Gale bending over to eat. His awkward fidgeting was finally able to go away when Gale's uncovered left eye swiveled upwards and narrowed in a "what are you looking at," glare. Ah, finally some response from someone, even though it wasn't particularly friendly.

"Do you celebrate the holidays during winter break as well?"

The crescent scar under Gale's eye twitched as he tensed, suspicious of Link. "I'm not particularly celebrating anything at the moment." He shifted his weight to dodge a whack from Loze's direction.

"Yes we do," Loze said sternly. "Though I admit it's become something we do out of habit than anything else."

"Ah. Well, I was talking to Gale a while ago and we were wondering if we could take a trip with a friend during the winter."

The albino was now staring at Link in a "what are you doing?" expression while Loze appeared surprised. The old man turned to his grandson, bewildered.

"Really Gale?"

Gale paused. "Yeah."

"You never want to go anywhere with anybody."

Gale shrugged, poking his food.

Cocking his head, Loze looked to Link. "How did you manage to convince him? This boy's so antisocial I was afraid he didn't have any friends to go anywhere with."

"Gee thanks gramps."

This time, Link looked a little sick in the face as well. "Uh. We get along really well… yeah…" _Farore knows JUST how much I want to get along with a psycho, world domination obsessed, power craving, adulterous, ego inflated wind mage. But one does what one must do to save the world, huh? Too bad I have to keep him around in case things don't go well with Skull Kid…_

_Ugh. Eff my life. _

"I was under the impression that you two didn't like each other. Where are you planning to go?"

Gale gave a crooked smile. "Japan." He stabbed his piece of turkey with his knife. "It's going to be," _stab_, "fun." _Stab_.

"What?! I am not paying for that! Do you know just how much money a plane trip to the other side of the world cos –"

"Relax. Someone's got us covered."

"And who do you mean by someone? If you come back and we have a debt to pay…"

"Geez, I said chill out. We're going with Zelda Sterling from the local college and she's handling everything for us." Upon seeing his grandfather wasn't entirely convinced, Gale sighed and put his utensils down on the table. "She was the one who offered." He added a knowing eyebrow arch until he was sure Loze reached the conclusion he wanted him to make.

"M'boy, you know I don't like you taking advantage of girls' obsessions over you. It's not what good men do."

Gale added a sly grin now that Gramps had bought his story. "She would have been devastated if I'd refused. Not so much Link, I imagine, but she insisted she would feel bad if she excluded my ah… friend."

"Zelda doesn't lik –" Link stopped short when Gale gave him a cold look. He didn't really understand why he was getting so upset by Gale's comments about Zelda, especially since he understood this was just an excuse to get Loze to feel less suspicious about their coming trip to Japan. "Zelda doesn't like… to… exclude people," Link muttered. He shrunk down in his seat, swallowing his frustration. He told himself over and over again that Gale was just telling a story that wasn't true.

Loze sat quietly and eyed the two for a long time. Link managed to keep his good boy smile the entire time while Gale's blood red eyes were staring so intensely that they might have bored holes into his food. After a torturous minute, grandpa Loze sat back in his chair. "Well, we'll have to make sure to thank her thoroughly, won't we?"

The two boys allowed themselves to relax.

"Link, do you have a passport by the way? You can't go unless you have one."

Link immediately nodded. "I have everything figured out. Please don't worry."

"If you say so." Loze shrugged, and the table returned to its previous state of awkward silence. Meanwhile, Gale gave a questioning glance at Link who had picked up his fork and was neatly scraping his plate clean. Somehow, the white haired skater had a feeling that Link was hiding something about this trip that he wasn't aware of.

_One trip. One trip and that crazy punk is gone for good. _

_

* * *

_fleets: NOTICE ON PAIRINGS -

I feel like this should be mentioned:  
I have decided to include overtones of certain pairings in this story, and I am aware some people will be upset to the point they may no longer want to read any further. There will be nothing overtly fluffy, heavy, or super lovey-dovey, but there will be hints of pairing hints I can reveal so far will be (drumroll):

LinkxZelda  
VaatixZelda

...wow Zelda's a slut. So there you go. Right now I think the pairings will be so slight you'll be able to pretend they're not there, but if you can't stand even the thought of those pairings, then you might want to stop. Don't like, don't read. :(

**Death-Note-Zelda-Kitty: **Thank you! Link is a sketchy one - I think he's enjoying everyone's reaction too much for his own good. :P Japan is coming up soon!

**Astral S. Kepeire: **I'm a little nervous about the Japan segment, but hopefully I can pull it off. :)

**Shadow Blues: **Haha, it's not too interesting or important - it's basically a bunch of squiggles. Do I ever make life easy for Vaati (I mean Gale)? XD

**Midna Hytwilian: **I wonder how Vaati will be, too (perplexed face). (shifty eyes) well, if he does come to his senses.  
Ah! So sorry I have not been online for god knows how long. I haven't had the time to do anything...

**Reily96: **VxZ pairing now confirmed. ;) Of course! Dugal welcomes fans. Too bad he hasn't appeared yet... I want to have fun with his dialogue...

**marium: **Happy birthday! Haha, oh Link. Oh Gale. They're so disfunctional.

**LinkxDarkLink: **cheery yet sneaky - I think you got Link's personality down (I was looking for a good word to describe him and was having trouble, so thanks)! Thank you for your support as always, and sorry about the hiatus - I didn't expect to run so low on time.

**Darkwind: **:) I'm still experimenting with Petrov's personality since I've never actually played OoT. He's considerably more different than the Link I wrote about in my previous stories though (less carefree, I guess?). Wow... I'm surprised by how popular Link's jacket has become.

**drydrydessert: **I try. Thank you :)

**Sue Axel: **And VxZ is what you shall get! Well, nothing overt, but if you squint you'll see it ;)  
Chocolate chip! How did you know, those are my favorite! :D


	10. Skyward

fleets: Happy Holidays! When I was originally planning this story, I was trying to time the writing of the chapters so that I can hit an _adorable_ Christmas special for this submission. Because of my temporary hiatus, I didn't make it to that point...  
Oh yeah, I replaced the last "I'm on hiatus" chapter with a real chapter (I don't think that showed up as an update...). Right now, I don't know what my status is - I guess we're back to the usual "super irregular updating."  
Also, Gale still has a sailor mouth at this point.

Well, enjoy your winter break! These two clowns will have one they won't forget :D

* * *

**Chapter 9: Skyward**

"School's out!"

"See you after break!"

"Party at my place. You guys better come."

"SNOW FIGHT!"

Link and Gale squeezed past the steady stream of students rushing to get out of school and met up in front of their lockers. Once there, they nodded in mutual understanding and let the crowd carry them back outside. Link shivered as he stepped out into the cold; it was snowing lightly and the pavement was wet with muddy, salt ridden melted snow. "I didn't do so well on my exam."

"It was easy enough for me." Gale wrinkled his nose and hunched lower into his jacket. "Damn I hate winter. It's cold, and I can't longboard anymore."

"You whine a lot, you know that?"

"Shut it. I have low tolerance for things that ruin my fun."

When they made it back home, they kicked the snow off from under their shoes and immediately went to their respective rooms. A few minutes later, both of them came out dragging two medium suitcases that were already packed with belongings. Link winced when Loze shouted angrily from Gale kicking his down the stairs, causing a few customers to stare at the suitcase that had fallen next to them. The blond teen decided to roll his down behind him the normal way even though Gale was pointing at his watch and telling him to hurry up. "Hurry up! The taxi comes in only a few minutes!"

Loze hobbled over from behind the counter, apologizing to the two middle aged men eating pizza at one of the tables. Gramps crossed his arms and looked from the suitcases to the two boys. "Did you make sure you have everything you need?"

"And if I said no? My answer's not going to make any difference because we have to catch the taxi so we can catch the plane. Petrov! Hurry the hell up!"

With a heave, Link's suitcase plopped onto the last floor and the two ran out the door of Loze's Pizzeria. Link was the only one who waved back before throwing his suitcase into the trunk of the yellow cab and jumped into the back seat. "Bye Grandpa Loze! See you when we get back!"

The snow flurries quickly obscured the shape of the taxi into two blinking lights as the car made a right turn onto the main road. Loze shook his head when he stepped outside, facing the direction the cab had gone. "Don't do anything stupid!" He yelled through the snowy fog. He snorted. What a waste of words, knowing Gale. That boy didn't know how to stay out of trouble – he practically attracted it. Loze hadn't been too fond of the idea of sending the two off on their own to a foreign country on the other side of the world no less, but oh well. Getting Gale to go on a vacation with someone was an improvement in itself, since the boy was never one to make friends.

Seeing the world and spending time away from home wasn't a bad thing. Maybe this trip would be a good experience for Gale.

XXXXXXXX

"We wait in the luggage line for an hour and a half, we wait another thirty minutes to convince the check in man to let me put a fragile sticker on my suitcase for my Dervish, we wait _another_ hour in line for security check in, and now we have to wait half an hour to finally board the plane. What the fuck."

"...You –"

"And _don't_ you fucking tell me I whine a lot, you miserable bastard, because Hal-fucking-stead Dugal and his bitch Zelda could – ow &*^%!"

"That's enough obscenities."

Gale grumbled, rubbing the side of his arm that had been given a warning twist a few seconds ago. "Whatever man. Shit. You know they could have at least given us business first and we wouldn't have had to deal with all of that waiting."

Link appeared sour by his companionship. "Well, we're almost on the plane, aren't we? And what we just had to go through isn't as nearly as bad as the time we have to wait to arrive at Narita Airport in Tokyo. How long was it again?"

"14 hours…"

"See? Not bad."

Gale glowered and walked over to the ceiling high windows that showcased the plane they were going to board momentarily. "We still could have wasted less time on business first," he muttered. He stole a sidelong glance at the line of economy class people who were handing in their tickets to board the plane. Link was already lining up, but Gale figured he would just wait by the windows until the line became shorter. Apparently Zelda had already boarded the plane a little earlier with the first class people – of course Zelda would get business first class and they would be stuck with economy seats.

He took some time to observe the behemoth of a plane. It was all white with the exception of blue lettering that read _Continental Airlines_ – rather boring for a plane. Still, he marveled at it a little. It was his first time on a plane, and he was amazed by the ability of such a huge thing to fly nonstop across the Pacific Ocean. It was…

_Kind of cool. _

It all had to do with the physics of moving air, if he remembered correctly from what little schoolwork he did. The air moved faster on the top half of the wing than the bottom half, which resulted in a lower pressure above the wing, which in turn caused the plane to be lifted into the air. That was it. Moving air was all it took to lift a several ton mass of metal and human flesh floating into the sky. Ah, people could do so many things with just wind. It was so variable, elegant, and most importantly, powerf –

"Gale! You should get in line."

"Mmf." His eyes still on the plane, he wandered over to Link and got ready to board.

XXXXXXXXX

"Your seat is near the back on the left. Enjoy your flight!"

The stewardess waved her hand toward the back of the plane, signifying where the boys' seats were. Gale grumbled something as he squeezed his way past the thin isles between the roomy, black reclining business first and first class seats. On his way to the back, he noticed a shock of blond hair with a band of pink: Zelda glanced their way and nodded with a slight smile.

Out of habit, Gale smirked devilishly and winked, but on his way to his seat he scowled at the difference between the economy seats and the business first seats. He watched Link squish his way into a grey uncomfortable looking seat with barely enough room to extend an arm before bumping into the seats in front. Gale eyed the plumpish woman sitting on the isle, then the empty seat, and then Link sitting by the tiny window looking through the toothbrush package that he'd found in the seat pocket. He snapped his fingers to get Link's attention.

"Hey."

Link looked up.

"Move. I have the window."

The blond rolled his eyes. Whatever. It wasn't a big deal to him where he sat; he just didn't expect Gale to want it so badly. He scooted over to the center seat while Gale tripped over the first lady and nearly fell on top of him. He watched Gale mutter under his breath and plop into the window seat before the pale teen pointedly stared outside.

Link clicked his seatbelt buckle on, and watched the small television screen attached to the seat in front of him come to life. He noticed Gale wasn't paying much attention to the safety procedures as the plane began to rumble and slowly heave itself backwards.

XXXXXXX

Gale never felt embarrassed about making demands, but for some reason, this time he felt a little foolish for demanding to take the window seat. It felt like something only a child would do, but he really wanted to be close to the view. He bit his lip – he got what he wanted, so he didn't care if he looked immature.

The artificially sweet voice of the recording that was giving them instructions on safety became background noise as the plane approached the runway. He ignored Link who was looking at him curiously, wondering what he was watching with so much interest.

They were going to fly. This several ton plane was going to fly.

"_Flight attendants, please take a seat for departure._"

It was quiet for a few seconds, and then the low vibrations turned into a rattling roar. Gale felt his seat press against his back as the plane accelerated and he watched in awe as the ground began to pull away from under them.

_Whoa._

The cars on the road became smaller and smaller, and as they ascended, wisps of clouds flew by. For a moment, a white mist obscured the entire window before the plane broke through the clouds and glided above them.

It was an amazing sight. The clouds shone a brilliant white from the sun's glare, and everything beyond that was a perfect blue sky. A tap on his shoulder broke Gale from his dreamy gaze.

"What?" he snapped. Link pointed at the stewardess who was asking what he wanted to order for the in-flight dinner. "Oh, uh… whichever one he didn't get."

The flight attendant nodded politely, wrote something down, and left the teen to go back to watching the view.

XXXXXXXXXX

Link sighed. Ok, so it was cool and all that they were many miles above the ground. Still, the glare was bright and the sun in his eyes was starting to become annoying. He didn't understand why Gale was so fascinated by the scenery – after all, it was just a bunch of white clouds and it became old after a while. _Ah well, he's Vaati after all whether he knows it or not._

Sooner or later, the stewardess returned pushing a metal cart with food. She went around each row, passing an aluminum box to each person as well as a small plastic cup with drinks. Link got his and opened it. _This looks awful._

"They expect us to eat this?"

_Of course Vaati would complain._

Shrugging, Link wordlessly took his utensils out of the plastic wrap, and poked through his almost wooden meat that had been called "juicy fillet mignon." He did his best to cut it. Considering he'd once had to eat with the Gorons in Death Mountain after he had defeated the King Dodongo, this stuff was tolerable.

Gale muttered and grumbled at first, but after a while his hunger got the best of him and he began to eat as well. Link was glad Gale couldn't see what the business first class people were getting. Some of them had wine and cheese, and the stewardesses were currently going around handing them chocolate truffles. If the albino saw that then there would be no end to his scowling.

An hour passed. The food had been taken away and now most people had reclined their chairs as much as they could to prepare themselves for at least another 10 more hours of flight. Link stared blankly ahead while Gale returned to looking at the clouds that were now far beneath them.

The blond fidgeted in his seat. This was the first time Link was ever on a plane and he was already starting to hate it. He didn't like sitting still for too long, and this place was too squished for his liking. It was also really boring, and he wanted something to do. _This is even worse than the time I had to sit in the wagon to go to Lon Lon Ranch with Talon. At least back then I had enough space to move around…_

The lady next to him was watching some movie while Gale was still staring outside the window. Link decided the entertainment system would be more amusing than what Gale was doing.

Gale inched closer to the window when Link squirmed around in his seat to find the remote that controlled the entertainment system. Huffing, he went back to looking at the clouds that rolled by. It was interesting to observe the sun: it seemed as though it was stuck in one place as the plane chased it across the earth.

"Excuse me sir. Excuse me."

"Hey, Gale."

Gale's head snapped around like a snake's when Link tapped him cautiously on the shoulder. He stopped himself from hissing like one when he noticed the dark haired flight attendant calling him. He relaxed. "Yes?"

"Can you please close the windows? Some people are trying to sleep." She leaned forward politely.

Gale tried to look pleasant, but Link noticed his smile look a little strained. His head tilted from the windows to the pretty lady, obviously liking both views but not liking the fact he had to choose one or the other. Gale tried to weasel out of choosing. "Sleep? But it's so sunny out. It's not close to night."

"Well that's because we'll be moving across the international date line."

Gale waved her away. "I know I know. Don't worry ma'am I'll close it." He pressed the plastic blinds closed until only a thin white ray peeked through. Several minutes later, Gale turned to Link with a disgruntled growl. The blond was struggling in a game of invaders looking sufficiently confused by the concept of alien spaceships. Link plopped his controller down onto his lap when the game over screen popped up. Sighing, he turned to Gale.

"Hey, you bored?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Want to play against each other? There's blackjack, poker, chess…"

After considering for a few minutes, Gale complied. "Fine. I'll take a game of chess. Prepare to lose."

XXXXXXXXX

Several hours later, Gale dropped his controller on his lap triumphantly.

"Hmph. I win again. You bore me, Link."

"I'm actually not too surprised you'd be good at chess. Well, I'm pretty bad so I would have been shocked if I'd won."

Gale reclined his seat all the way, which wasn't very far, and stretched. "You just have to be able to look at the big picture." He turned off the overhead lights and fell quiet, looking straight ahead at the ceiling. Link did the same, noting how many more hours they had left until they reached their destination – _6 hours left…_

"Link?"

Link shifted his weight. He noticed Gale's voice was oddly contemplative; a change from his usual arrogant, careless attitude. "Yeah?"

Gale turned his head away and towards the window. It was obvious that something was bothering him. "I… can you… aw shucks just know that when I ask this it doesn't mean I believe any of your stories, okay?"

Link blinked. "Is this about Vaati?"

The other teen huffed. "I just want to know a little more about him. I'm just curious why you think I'm his reincarnation, and I'll pretend to listen to you this time."

"Why the sudden change in interest?"

Gale remained quiet.

"All right. I guess you have your own reasons," Link sighed. "Just promise me that you won't interrupt with your little commentaries."

"No promises," Gale said automatically, as though out of habit. "But fine, I'll just sit here."

Link glanced at the lady sitting next to him. She was sleeping with an eye-mask over her face and the earphones she had been wearing for the in-flight movie was still over her ears. She wouldn't be able to hear their conversation. "I don't know too much about him," he began softly. "He was once from the Minish race, a group of people no larger than your thumb. In their own tongue, they're called the Picori. Only children can see them, and they're magical creatures that love to help people."

"Sounds a little like Santa's elves."

Link laughed. "Haha, I guess you can say that."

"So Vaati was one of these little elves? Wasn't he supposed to be a great sorcerer or something?"

"Well, he was until he stole his master's wishing hat. He was an apprentice sage, and I guess that wasn't good enough for his ambitions. The hat he stole was special – it could grant any wish its wearer desired. He wished to be the most powerful sorcerer in the world, and so that's what he became."

"Huh…"

"That wasn't enough for him even then. He wanted more, so he went out to search for the power of the gods. Vaati turned the princess of Hyrule to stone and temporarily took over the country in his search. He almost succeeded, but a boy with a holy sword defeated him.

For many many years, Vaati would attempt to break the seal that bound him and would wreak havoc every time he escaped. This continued until he was defeated for good eight thousand years ago and was never heard of again."

Gale seemed to consider something for a while. The funny look on his face was half covered by his long bangs. Then, "Why do you think I'm Vaati? Isn't he supposed to be dead for good?"

Link hesitated. _Should I tell him everything? I don't want him to realize his full potential just yet if I can help it._ "Um, well, I guess you just look a lot like him. You even have that mark under your eye." _That's innocent enough. I don't think I should mention anything about Vaati cursing himself unintentionally. _

Gale scowled, obviously not impressed. "I got this scar when I fell longboarding." He scoffed. "Hmph. You know what I would do if I was the world's most powerful sorcerer? I would probably take over the world and make everyone listen to me, just because I can. And because that in itself would probably be boring, I'll have a house full of the sexiest girls on earth all to myself. Seriously, if only your crazy ideas were actually true."

Link chuckled. "Well, Vaati actually did kidnap a bunch of the prettiest girls in Hyrule at one point in time before he decided he wanted to marry the princess."

Gale became quiet again, causing Link to tilt his head a little, wondering what was up. Gale wasn't acting completely like himself today. Finally, the albino stole a quick glance and then crossed his arms. He snapped, "He's a smart guy then. He's a cool character considering he's from a children's fable."

Link smiled sadly. _That's his usual self. Poor guy. He doesn't know._

"Even when I try to take you seriously everything sounds like a joke. It's no use. You were so insistent about this Vaati story that you almost made me think that _I_ was the one who was wrong. Ha, you should be a storyteller. Hyrule, and magic, and evil sorcerers: what's next, a flying castle?"

_Funny you should mention that…_

Growling, Gale turned his shoulder and pulled his blue airline blanket completely over his face. Link watched as his travelling partner seemed content to abruptly put the conversation to a halt. Sighing, Link also pulled his blanket up and did his best to fall asleep on the cramped chairs.

_I wonder if something I said sparked something in his head…_

XXXXXXX

Gale couldn't sleep. He was thinking about the story about Vaati, and he was feeling restless. He didn't understand why a fable that couldn't have been real was bothering him so much. There was something about this Vaati that made his skin crawl and made him feel uneasy.

Like he was forgetting something important.

_Urgh, this is stupid. I want to sleep._

Could it be that Link was right?

_NO! No no and NO. Magic doesn't exist, idiot. And if I believed in reincarnation I would give some religions more credit than I do now._

It was this stupid plane ride. Sitting here and not being able to do anything but… sit… yeah. This was making him think about all of these unnecessary things about sorcerers and shit. And for some reason, he couldn't get himself to think about anything more interesting like women.

That weirded him out a little. Whenever he had time to sit and think there was at least some thought about the ladies. In the last eight hours he hadn't had a single naughty thought, though his mind had occasionally wandered over to Zelda. Zelda…

Gale shook his head. It bothered him that he would think about a single girl instead of a collective group of girls he knew. That was a bad sign. He had a policy of living under the rule that he would never think of just one girl because that would make her "special." No girl was special. They were all his toys.

_Stupid Link and stupid Vaati! It's all their fault._

Gale frowned, forcing himself to think about how nice the view was from the plane. _Clouds. Think about the clouds._ Gradually, his mind relaxed and his whirlpool of thoughts began to disappear. He took a deep breath and let the tension in his face go away. He liked those clouds. There was something about them that made him at peace.

His lip twitched. His peace was broken and creases began to appear on his forehead.

_Clouds…_

Suddenly, he felt an inexplicable urge to open the windows to see the sky again to look for something.

_Look for what?_

"AAAaaargh!!!"

"Huh?!"

Link woke up from his neighbor's muffled shout from under the bundle of blankets. After a while, there was a string of miserable muttering before the blanket bundle went silent again. Shrugging, Link rolled over and fell back to sleep.

Beneath the blankets, Gale clenched his fist, angry about his situation. Even the clouds refused to put his mind to rest, and he wasn't pleased. _Stupid Link. Your stories; they aren't real…_

However, a small whisper of a thought knew why he was denying the story about Vaati. In truth he was afraid. He was afraid of leaving behind his unexciting world and entering one where he wasn't who he thought he was. It sounded like something out of a bad movie.

Vaati…

_There's something I resent about you. Real or fiction, I feel like I have a reason to hate you for something you've done to me. _

_

* * *

  
_

**Reily96: **Zelda always ends up with Link, ey? Hurhurr, all I can say is, "interesting..." ;P  
Argh! Dugal where are you?!  
You know the answer to that question ;) I'm guessing it's for FL?  
And thanks as always.

**Midna Hytwilian: **Oh geez, you flatter me too much. :3  
Yeah... Vaati failed pretty epicly.  
Ah, well, the pairings will be messy for sure. I'm still trying to figure it out myself.  
Dugal: Well, considering fangirl #1 is now a pile of ashes...  
me: mmmf!  
Dugal: (cough) I don't know what's stopping you from being #2.  
me: mmmmf!

**Darkwind: **The manga really helped. Thanks!

**LinkxDarkLink: **I'm surprised people realized I'd even updated. Thank you!

**SyllverAngel: **Wow, I'm happy you still like this!


	11. Halstead Dugal

Finally! I had a field day with this chapter because... well, the title says all. I sososo wanted to finally write about this guy.  
Well, I'll be off for vacation so no writing during that time. Thought I'd submit this one before I go away. Happy late 2010!

* * *

**Chapter 10: Halstead Dugal**

"Ow my legs," Gale groaned as the two boys stumbled out of the plane. He was super tired, too – the thought of Vaati had distracted him to the point he hadn't been able to get some good sleep. Link twitched like a cat as he stretched his cramped limbs, and the two exchanged worn looks as they dragged themselves through the crowd of people and got in line for immigration. Gale got his passport out and lazily flipped it in his palm. For the first time, he remembered something about Link's passport. "Hey Link, so do you have a US passport or a passport from some other country?"

Link stuck his hand in one of the many pockets of his dark green trench coat and got out his passport. He showed it to Gale. "It's just a regular US passport."

"Heh. Knowing you I was half expecting you to have an unusual one. I'm relieved you even had one at all, since you were living in the streets before you sneaked your way under Gramps' favor." Gale lost interest for a second, and then he suddenly began to feel uneasy. His head snapped back and he snatched the passport away from Link. "Hold on a sec…"

"Hey, what was that for?" Link reached out for his passport but Gale swiped it out of his reach. The other people in line stole glances at the commotion.

"Shhh, keep it down! You're attracting attention." Gale waved him away and took a look at the passport again. He then began to feel sick. "Link… what the hell is this?"

"It's my passport."

Gale took a deep breath, noticed the other people in line all around them, and then sighed heavily. He said under his breath, "This is gramps' passport with your photograph glued over it…"

Link grabbed the fake passport out of Gale's hands and slid it back into his pockets. He had a somewhat sheepish expression, but he repeated, "It's my passport." He put a firm grip on the other teen's shoulder. "I'm relying on you to look as though nothing is wrong for this to work as well as it had through security at Newark. If you act odd, then the suspicion will be thrown on me and we'll be caught," he said sternly.

Gale sounded exasperated. "You mean you got by security with this thing at Newark?"

"Yes. Now don't look suspicious. Remember, this is my passport."

Gale couldn't believe it. He should have expected something like this from Link. He should have known something was up when the punk had asked him if Grandpa Loze had a passport. _Sneaky bastard, he must've known that he wouldn't have been able to apply for a passport in time for this trip, so he'd settled for a fake one._ He had a bad feeling about this. Sure they might have been able to go through security at Newark, but immigration was going to be a lot more diligent about checking passports. He was positive that Link's fake passport wasn't going to work here, especially since he'd been able to see something wrong with it.

"Zelda's already waiting for us over there."

Gale turned to where Link was pointing. Sure enough, the dainty girl was waiting just behind the grayish cubicles that they had to pass to officially be in Japan. The silver-top shook his head. She was going to have to wait for much, much longer than she thought.

"Hai! Tsugi no okata!" The immigration officer waved Link over. "Next!"

Link walked over and calmly presented his passport. Gale watched him from behind the white line that had been drawn across the carpet, and he crossed his fingers that things would go smoothly. His hopes were dashed when Link and the man began to have a conversation that lasted longer than it should have. _I told you it wouldn't work, you dummy._

He just nodded to himself when he saw the man speak into the mike and call over another man in a uniform. At this point, Zelda was sending him questioning looks but all Gale could do was shrug back. _Ah well. At least I won't be having any problems. _The official looking man that had been called over tapped the expressionless Link on the shoulder and signaled him to follow. At that moment, Link turned around and pointed at Gale, saying something to the immigration officer.

Gale blanched, and then seethed when the man with Link looked at him and waved for him to follow as well. _You idiot._

He shook his head with disbelief just as he passed Zelda. It amused him for only a little bit that she seemed so confused. _You should have known he was trouble, princess._

XXXXXXXXXX

The two were taken away from the lines of people, and into a small waiting room. There they were sat down and they waited for some time before another man in a security suit came over and crouched down in front of them. He looked slowly from Link to Gale and then flicked out the fake passport in front of Link's nose. Gale flinched a little in shame, but tried his best to keep a poker face. He had to give Link props for having the flattest expression ever.

"Care to explain this?" The man asked gruffly in a thick, Japanese accent. He paid little attention to Gale, though he occasionally glanced over to him as though prodding for some info from his end. Gale decided to keep his mouth shut and let the creative liar do his part. After all, it was all his fault they were now sitting here and not outside getting their luggage.

Link cocked his head, and then, to Gale's disbelief, shrugged. The official looked peeved, and he rested his head tiredly on the side of his palm. The passport waving in his hand created small gusts.

"We're going to have to send you back to where you came from at this rate."

"Please don't."

"Then what's the meaning of this?"

Link became quiet again. His eyes were wandering as he tried to find a way out of this problem, and Gale averted his gaze when the blue eyes looked to him for help. Gale pointedly stared at the ceiling – it wasn't his problem.

Link stared in the space between his feet, and the officer waited for him for an explanation. After a while, Link opened his mouth to speak but no one got to hear what he was about to say, because at that point a Caucasian man in a smart black suit with a conspicuously bright blue tie strode in and interrupted them. The immigration officer stood up, his eyebrows scrunched together in puzzlement. The man in the suit whispered something in the officer's ear.

Link and Gale exchanged glances as the officer nodded with some hesitation. The officer took a quick look at the two teens and then took a tentative step back. The clock ticked, and then a figure stepped around the corner.

Like the man that had walked in before him, he was wearing a black suit. It was a stylish Armani suit, and he was wearing well-polished shoes that practically gleamed under the fluorescent lights. As the man brought his thin hands up to fix his silk purple tie, Gale noticed a thick silver ring on the man's middle finger. It appeared they were looking at a very rich man.

The man himself wasn't as memorable as his clothing. He seemed to be the type to be able to slide in and out of crowds without being remembered. He had the appearance of an average Caucasian man in his late twenties. His dusty black hair was washed neatly to the side, though some parts spiked out rebelliously. He smiled lazily towards the officer and the teens, but his hazel eyes darted as quickly as a snake's tongue behind his black-rimmed glasses.

"I believe you heard from my man that I would like to have a word with these two?" He asked the officer in a smooth voice. He spoke with a Northeastern American accent - Gale thought it could have been a Long Island one, but he wasn't sure. The officer didn't really get a chance to respond as the man roughly patted him on the arm, shoved something that looked like a couple of bills into his hand, and pushed him out of the way. The officer looked somewhat lost and uncertain as he frowned at the bills in his hand, and then at the man in the suit that now had his back towards him, and was crouching in front of the two boys.

"Uh… sir…" he began, not liking the fact he was being bribed.

The man in the suit didn't even turn around. "You may step outside, good man. I'll speak with you again about these two troublemakers once I have a word with them. Then they're all yours."

"…" The immigration officer swayed back and forth on his toes as he battled his moral conundrum, and then quickly strutted outside.

Satisfied, the man in the suit chuckled pleasantly while Gale and Link sat stiff in their seats. "Well! I certainly didn't expect you to get into trouble so soon. Link Petrov and Gale Engst, I presume? Miss Sterling mentioned you were both quite, ah, quirky, and I guess I should have known you might create problems." He shifted his weight to get into a more comfortable position, and then held out his hand. "You may have guessed already, but I am the Chief Executive Consultant of Avilux I, Halstead Dugal. Please call me Dugal."

Gale shook his hand after Link. He couldn't help but think that Dugal, with his black suit and sitting in a low crouch, looked like an overeager panther trying to determine if they were prey. Gale didn't feel entirely secure in letting his guard down around Dugal. The man continued.

"So tell me why I should even bother helping you out. To be honest, I only had an interest in bringing Miss Sterling along and if it weren't for her insisting you two to come along as well, I would have left you to find a way to get to Japan on your own."

Link gulped. He sat straighter in his seat. "I'm Skull Kid's distant relative. I've been looking for him for a long time and I would like to see him. He doesn't have anyone besides me."

Dugal tapped his chin. "I see, I see." He whirled around to Gale. "And you, Mr. Engst? What is your story?"

Link spoke for him. "He's my cousin."

"Ah. Ha."

Gale gave a slow nod and kept a cool gaze locked on Dugal who was considering him with interest. The two had a stare off up until Gale wasn't sure he could hold his confidence. Dugal smirked and steepled his hands in front of his face.

"And I'm pretty sure Skull Kid is something like your sister's brother-in-law's son," the man laughed in amusement. Link and Gale tensed. Dugal raised his eyebrows, and then suddenly stood up, laughing freely. "I'm only jesting. Of _course_ I believe you're both concerned family members who only want to see their relative. Skull Kid is such a charming rascal – he keeps everyone's hands full – and I'm pretty sure a visit from both of you would make him happy." Dugal crossed his arms behind his back and turned on his heel. "I'll speak with the immigration officer and see what I can do. I don't know what you did that got you stuck at immigration, but as long as you weren't trying to blow anything up I can probably get you through."

Link and Gale looked bewildered.

"…You boys weren't trying to blow anything up, were you?"

The two vehemently shook their heads "no." Dugal smiled.

"All right then! I will see you outside shortly, and I expect you to tell me a little more about Skull Kid on the ride to the hotel."

The two remained in their seats for quite some time after Dugal left chuckling to himself for something he alone found amusing. They heard him chatting up the immigration officer outside – the latter sounded flustered and unsure, but they seemed to be making some sort of deal. Gale was the first to speak.

"I don't like him."

Link nodded. "Yeah. He's too…"

" - Slick. Like he owns the place."

"Uh huh."

"Like he owns the world."

"Yeah. I also had that vibe that he was plotting something."

"I know what you mean. He's a sneak, I'm sure of it."

There was a pause in their conversation. Outside, the conversation between Dugal and the immigration officer was taking a cheerful turn. Gale rubbed the bridge of his knows, appearing satisfied by something.

"He's a cool guy."

"What?!" Link almost fell out of his chair. He turned to Gale in disbelief while the white haired teen just shrugged.

"I do. I don't like him, but that doesn't mean I don't have respect for him."

"You're unbelievable." Link stood up as the officer walked back into view and motioned for them to follow. "In any event, I think we should keep a close eye on Dugal. I'm pretty sure that once we meet up with Skull Kid our problems will be over, but it wouldn't hurt to stay on guard with this guy."

XXXXXXXXXX

_Ah yes, I have forgotten to tell you what you must do upon finding Skull Kid again. It is not Skull Kid that is the problem so much as the instrument he has – the Ocarina of Time. You are aware of the different powers the Ocarina has. For instance, if you play the Song of Storms you can summon rain at will, if you play the Prelude of Light you will be instantly teleported to the Temple of Time, and if you play the multitude of other songs you will cause other magical things to occur. _

_Music is what commands the Ocarina of Time, and music is infinite. To understand all the abilities of the Ocarina is impossible for a finite mind, for there are endless possibilities for the instrument. Therefore, there are certain effects you have yet to witness because music is so malleable. You have already experienced first hand a part of the hidden powers of the Ocarina. When Skull Kid played his song he played a variation of the Song of Time, causing both of you to travel to the future. _

_A little time travelling would have caused Time some problems, but that is not nearly as devastating as what Skull Kid has recently discovered how to do. His new song has the potential to unleash a power that should not be awakened. If the power were given to the wrong hands, this world would be ravished. _

_This is the reason why you must find Skull Kid and return to your own time by playing the Song of Time. _

_You must play it before Skull Kid completes his new song: the Adagio of Phoenix Flare._

XXXXXXXXX

"Hahaha! You really have to do better than this if you wanted to fool immigration."

They were all sitting inside a spiffed up black Audi, and Gale felt a little out of place in a luxury car with mahogany linings on the interior. Dugal twisted around in the passenger seat to hand back Link's fake passport.

"You could have at least made a digital fake instead of a crude job with stick glue and a cutout photo. I'm impressed you at least got through security in the US."

Link took it and wiggled around to put it back into his pocket. Zelda, who was sitting on the window seat next to him, watched the incriminating passport disappear into his coat with interest. She sighed, and then addressed Dugal.

"Dugal, I'm sorry my acquaintances gave you problems. Is there anything I can do?"

"There's nothing to worry about, Ms. Sterling. It was easily taken care of, and I have no interest in money. All I want is for you to consider Dr. Willits' offer under Avilux I." A small speck of light bounced around in the car's tan ceiling as the sun reflected off of Dugal's silver ring.

Link noticed Zelda relax after hearing her offer wasn't being pulled back after her "friends'" incident. The position seemed to mean a lot to her.

Dugal continued. "Ah, well, since we have an hour and half left until we reach Hilton Tokyo, why don't we take the time to hear a little bit about Skull Kid? If that's all right with you, Mr. Petrov."

Link felt all eyes on him. Come to think of it, Dugal wasn't the only one in the car who he'd kept to himself about the imp. "What do you want to know?"

"Hmm, I guess I should get straight to the point. Tell me about the ocarina he seems inseparable with." Dugal kept an eye on Link's reaction through the rearview mirror. "He won't go anywhere without it, and his reactions become extreme if we so much as hint taking it away from him. It's curious."

Link's expression became blank. He was sure Dugal knew that the ocarina that Skull Kid had wasn't an ordinary ocarina, and he had a feeling Zelda knew something about it as well. He didn't know how much they knew about the power of the Ocarina of Time, however, so he decided to play it safe. After all, Dugal was simply prompting him right now and he wasn't willing to give more than what Dugal was giving him. "It was… a present I gave him," Link began carefully. _True enough, according to that brat._ "He's always been obsessed with music, and as long as he can play to someone he'll be happy." He looked at Dugal straight in the eye, a little challengingly. "I don't know why you'd want to take it away from him."

The man broke his gaze and turned to watch the road ahead thoughtfully. Finally, a little smile appeared on his face. "We've tried to borrow it from him a couple of times because that instrument possesses amazing properties. Properties I'm not sure you fully understand."

_Oh don't worry, I know, _Link thought to himself.

"As Ms. Sterling can confirm, the instrument can create effects that are nothing short of magical."

"Magical?" Gale sounded skeptical.

Dugal laughed lightly. "Of course not _magical _magical. As people of a technologically advanced era we'd like to avoid that word. You'll see what I'm talking about when I take you to our main facility tomorrow morning."

Zelda, who seemed to want to ask something, spoke up. "Dugal, why did you become interested in this line of research? I know Avilux I promotes research that is innovative, but you must know that the field of energy manipulation isn't taken very seriously by some scientists…" She bit her lip. "Why spend so much funding for a field that's not legitimate by the greater scientific community?"

The man adjusted his glasses. "The short answer is that I work under Avilux I, and part of my job is to look for opportunities that will potentially benefit the company. My employer is a forward thinking man who isn't afraid of making risky investments that will ultimately make the company grow tremendously. So what your field isn't recognized yet? One day you'll be at the top, and Avilux I would be there with you for having the insight to support you from the beginning.

As for the money, why, quite frankly we are a disgustingly rich group." He stopped abruptly, glancing quickly at the driver – the man with the blue tie from earlier – and then started over. "Hmm, at least the top executives are. Not that Condor here isn't generously paid."

"No sir," the driver said emotionlessly.

Appearing pleased, Dugal rambled on. "Now where was I? Ah, yes, money. Just believe us when we say we have enough of it to not worry so much about where it's really going. At the end of the day, it'll all come back to us because we took risks that were worth it. My employer is a very powerful man in this regard. He could very well be one of the most influential figures in the entire world if he wanted to be, but right now he's fine without having the spotlights on him. So don't fret about the reason we're funding you, Ms. Sterling. In fact, that's a silly thing to be worried about: people aren't usually worried about being given money."

Gale looked out the window. Japan didn't seem too different from the US from the highway. They even had Disneyland; he could see the white European castle in the distance as they drove past it. He yawned. It was only a few hours past noon, but he was really sleepy. The jetlag was getting to him, and he hadn't been able to get enough rest on the plane. He didn't have enough energy to focus on Dugal's talk about his company. Only Link and Zelda seemed interested in what the guy had to say. _Oh yeah. I almost forgot I have absolutely nothing to do with any of this Skull Kid business._

"What's the long reason you're interested in… whatever it is Zelda's researching?" Link asked.

"I suppose we have a while," Dugal mused. "If you don't mind, this is going to be a long story."

Link and Zelda confirmed. Gale, on the other hand, was half asleep.

"Not many people know this, but my goal used to be to become a fighter pilot for the United States Air Force. I wanted to fly the F-22 Raptor; such an elegant plane. So just as I finished high school I went straight for the Air Force Academy in Colorado. I sailed through the first two years with near perfect grades and barely any problems in the physical fitness tests. The only issues I had were some minor trouble with a few lieutenant colonels, but besides that I was on the right track. I was one of the best!

The third year was what changed everything. During the fourth week of first semester, I was jogging with one of my roommates when he collapsed without warning. He just started shouting something about his hand, and when I ran over to him there was a black, glassy shard with red engravings stuck in his palm. I only know that it was something he'd found on the beach when he went to California earlier in the summer, and he must've stabbed himself with it during the jog. Well, I actually don't know how that thing got stuck on his hand – what happened next was more shocking to me.

The shard splintered and engulfed his hand, and before I knew it there was a gigantic black thing in the place of my roommate. It was definitely humanoid, but it was no longer my roommate. Without warning, it attacked me and gave me a gash across my chest, and it probably would have killed me if it had been alive longer. Fortunately, the thing died in the span of a few minutes. It screamed and died from what seemed to be the presence of the sun.

Unfortunately… I lost a friend, and also had to explain the sudden disappearance of my roommate who was last seen with me. The thing my roommate had turned into had vanished after it had died, and of course no one would believe my fantastic story. Even I had trouble believing it at the time. I thought it was a nightmare.

The incident crushed my opportunities to move up in the Air Force. No one blamed me explicitly for the death of my roommate – there was no proof and I also had that gash – but I could tell everyone thought I had something to do with it. The lieutenants who I'd caused problems for earlier took the opportunity to make things harder for me to succeed in the academy, and they told me I was pursuing an impossible dream since my vision wasn't great. A fighter pilot can't be someone who wears glasses, they told me. They continued to make life as miserable for me as possible.

I had enough of their, excuse me, bullshit, so I dropped out of the academy. During that time I'd gotten in contact with a notable employer through a good friend. I tried my best to forget about that terrible day at the academy, and after a few years of huge profits I almost did.

Avilux I contacted me soon after. They'd wanted me to work for them because they'd heard about my successes with other employers, and they gave me a six-figure salary. Of course I'd accepted. It took me a couple of years working under Avilux I before I ran into something that reminded me of that black shard that had changed my life. It was an arrowhead that burst into flames, then ice, then a blinding light all by itself. Dr. Willits was researching it under the company's funding, and over time we were able to collect other objects exhibiting strange phenomena."

Dugal paused. The three teens in the back were very subdued with slightly tired yet wide-eyed expressions. Only Link didn't appear too surprised by Dugal's story of the black shard and strange objects. The man chuckled, and he continued in a soft voice.

"These objects, zerons, opened the world for the field of energy manipulation. Do you know why they're called zerons, Ms. Sterling?"

Zelda shook her head no.

Dugal smiled. "There are zero logical explanations that will explain what these objects can do. Dr. Willits coined it." He looked at the window. There was an abundance of tall, grey buildings with gigantic billboards, signifying they were getting close to the center of Tokyo. "He's trying to find a way to explain it. I'd also like to know, and that is why I take interest in the project. Maybe I'll also find an explanation for that strange black shard my roommate found a while ago."

Dugal ran his hand through his hair. His face revealed little emotion, and it was difficult to tell what he was thinking. Gale noted this with some interest. _He's either a cold bastard who's not affected by death,_ he thought, _or a tough bastard who knows better than to show weakness._ _Whichever one it is, Dugal keeps painting himself to be someone we shouldn't mess with. _

Soon, the curious executive consultant had a self-satisfied grin again. "Hm. Well I certainly don't expect you kids to believe my little story." He leaned his head back against the headrest. "I've talked enough for today. Why don't you get some rest until we reach the hotel? I'm sure you haven't had a lot of rest on the plane."

XXXXXXXXX

Gale, Link, and Zelda got out of the car and filed into the golden lobby of Hilton Tokyo. Everything glowed gold; from the large golden pillars that were in the middle of the room, to the walls, to the ceiling, to even the floor – it was all golden. Link felt severely underdressed. Dugal went over to the front desk to check them in, and they were given the keys to two rooms – one for the boys and one for Zelda. The man himself disappeared, retiring elsewhere in the expansive city for the rest of the day. The wheels of their carry-on suitcases rolled across the polished floor as they followed an attendee to the elevator. They climbed up to the seventh floor and were shown their rooms. They were right across each other.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Zelda said to the boys after opening the door to her room. Gale waved noncommittally without looking; he was past his flirting games today since he was too tired from the flight and long drive. Link stood standing by his door.

Zelda hesitated, noticing the blond was staring at her strangely. Feeling awkward, she asked, "What is it?"

"Huh? Oh, um… nothing," Link said as he snapped out of it. "Uh, if you need anything don't be afraid to let us know," he added hurriedly. Appearing a little flustered, he quickly turned around and went into his room after Gale, shutting the door behind him. Zelda giggled, and then went back into her room.

_I was second guessing myself for bringing them along, _she thought, _but it's nice to have company here. Especially Link… he's weird, but there's something familiar about him that makes me feel safe…_

XXXXXXXX

Link supported himself against the wall, palms sweating. _Zelda Sterling is not the same as Princess Zelda! Stop seeing the two as the same person or you'll get too attached!_ Link scolded himself. He couldn't help it – he loved the Princess from his own time period and he missed her, and it didn't help that Zelda Sterling looked so much like her. It was uncanny. It wasn't going to do him any good if he became attached to Zelda Sterling because when this was over he was going to go back to the past anyway. Another thought also bothered him.

… _Would I be cheating on my Zelda if I began to like the new Zelda?_ His head hurt. _I mean, I'm pretty sure Zelda Sterling is a reincarnation, so they're almost like the same person right? Or is that not how it works?_

Not liking the idea of the possibility of cheating, Link flopped over onto one of the beds and decided to sleep the thought away. He was tired anyway.

Gale, who had already buried himself in his own bed by the windows, grumbled and tugged at the window curtains. The sun was shining through because it was still afternoon in Japan, but Gale was miserably sleepy from jetlag. "Ugh. Why am I denied sleep?"

Link grunted something from his bed. The teen had both arms crossed over his face. After a while, one blue eye peeked out from under an arm. "I can't sleep either."

"Hmph."

"Gale, have you ever cheated on someone?"

Sounding groggy, the bundle that was Gale shifted. "Huh? What's this all of a sudden?" There was the sound of yawning, and it was evident Gale wasn't really paying too much attention to the question. "And yeah, sure, that's everyday stuff."

"How can you keep a clear conscience?"

"Oh geez, can you just try to shut up for once so I can try to sleep?"

It became very quiet for several long minutes. The sound of cars and passersby on the streets below became conspicuously loud in turn. Link took a breath, and attempted to sleep again, thinking Gale had fallen asleep already. Just as he took his coat off and tossed it off the side of the bed to be more comfortable, Gale's slightly airy voice muffled through from under the covers.

"The key," the voice drawled tiredly, "is to not become attached. Then you don't really care what happens. I've answered your question – don't bother me again."

Link frowned. Not become attached? He made it sound so easy. Struggling to make sense of the strange moral dilemma on whether or not it was possible to emotionally cheat with reincarnations of people, Link buried his face in one of the bed's many pillows. _Why did I have to be the one to fix problems all along different timelines?_

* * *

fleets: Ugh-ness. I didn't know how to end this particular scene, but I wanted to include Link's dilemma (yesh, I'll be attempting a very messy triangle-esque thing with Zelda. One of the things I'm most nervous of attempting this time... eep).  
Also! If any of you are lucky enough to visit Japan, the areas and locales I'm going to include are real places. Sometimes my descriptions don't do the places justice - google images can give you an idea if you're curious. And if you want to know relative distances of places the characters will be moving around, Google map satellite will give you an idea since I'm relying on it for travel accuracy. From this chapter forth, I'll include a travel log, written by none other than Gale Engst :P (since it's coming out of Gale's mouth, political correctness may occasionally be an issue. You've been warned. Disclaimer: I find Japan and its culture to be cool, but I do like to poke goodnatured fun at some aspects of it much like some people like to poke fun of "fat America").

Travel Log:

_Narita Airport_ - Decently large airport. Very clean. Very proper. And did I say very clean? Yeah. Just past immigration is a very large high-ceilinged place where you can grab luggage, and it's a little frustrating if you're waiting in line because you can just imagine your stuff going around and around just an escalator away. To say the immigration officers have thick Japanese accents is an understatement. How do people understand what they're saying?

_Tokyo Metropolis_ - I've only seen it through the window of a car so far, but it's huge! It's hard to describe... it's not really like New York. Buildings are crammed in even the smallest spaces imaginable, and some of them are ridiculously thin. At one point we passed over a river, and I didn't realize it was there since it was shadowed by a whole network of roads over it. I guess if you only have a tiny island that's about as big as California for a country, you have to be really space efficient. The "highway" should not be called a highway - so friggin slow.  
...well, we did pass by wooded area that seemed to be a park of some sort next to our hotel. I think I also saw a shrine in there, too, but I'm not too sure. That line of green was refreshing to the eyes after all that excessive grey and blinking billboards.

_Hilton Tokyo_ - Typical four star hotel for business people. As soon as you step in, everything is gold with the exception of one area with maroon velvet seats and maroon carpets. It goes up to an incredible 38 floors, but we got stuck with the standard guest rooms on the 7th floor. And man, the beds are so low and the bathtub is kinda deep. I don't get it. I hear it's like that for most hotels around Japan though.

* * *

**Death-Note-Zelda-Kitty: **Haha, that's so true about Gale! Planes aren't that bad. It's actually pretty boring on a long flight because they ask you to close the windows: you can't tell if you're even moving at that point because all you can see is a bunch of people sitting in a cylindrical "room."

**Reily96: **You already know there's going to be VxZ, so just in case, prepare yourself for a heartattack :P. Just in case. I was thinking that about Link, too, but I figured he'd be better with puzzle types that require thinking of the "now" (I see chess as needing more of a future planning thing, and with evil mastermind types i.e. Vaati, I thought Gale would be better at it).  
The Goron thing - I got it after there was mention of it in the LoZ Ocarina of Time Manga. :) It didn't really mention what Link did about the food though (even though Darunia said Gorons ate rocks...)  
Ooh, well, sounds interesting if you do end up doing it :)

**marium:** Not completely, because Gale's also a master of denial and he doesn't want to think Link of all people is right about him. There's hints of it though ;)

**Darkwind: **Merry Christmas to you too, and Happy New Year! Aw, man, thanks for catching that! I'll go fix it. And I'll give Gale that Orbit (not sure how much effect that'll have on him though...)

**LinkxDarkLink: **I picked Bernoulli's principle because that's the explanation that's most common (and what Gale would know), but I also heard that there are other explanations as well that's better than Bernoulli's. Uhhh... I dunno... I find rocketry to be really difficult especially the mathematics portions like differential equations and linear algebra... 8(  
I'm sure if there was a person like Gale somewhere he wouldn't be very well liked (though I'd want to meet him, and then run away quickly lol). Merry christmas and Happy new year to you too!

**Midna Hytwilian: **Merry Christmas! And Thankies! I had a ton of fun with the Vaatiness, too. :) Lolz, DuGal XD  
Daaah, I still have tons to improve - (but thank you... blushes). Indeed reincarnation fail haha. Poor Vaati, the fool. That WOULD make life horrible for Gale and Link because they'll be all uncomfortable about it... ummm, nah, I don't think I'll write a proper gay pairing ever just because I'll feel strange about writing one (unless it's realistic enough). Friendship, friendly rivalry, rivalry, or outright hate for each other are the four types I'll cover for what I write.

**Astral S. Kepeire: **I know, Chapter 8 was more of a Thanksgiving special I submitted late, and something I wanted to use to get rid of that yucky "on hiatus" post. I kinda needed it though, to explain why Loze was ok with them going...  
Mmm, yeahhh sorry but I can't make everyone happy on this point (I try to accomodate, but nothing's ever perfect) - that's why I decided to warn readers so they knew what was coming. At the moment, I'm thinking of keeping everthing open to interpretation (like I explained earlier), but be aware that my opinions might change throughout the story and you might not like what I do. If and when that happens (because it IS a possibility, however slight), I hope you won't be too shocked because I'll warn you now it _can_ happen.  
Hehe, hope you didn't have to wait too long for this one! - (ionno... having a life can be a stressful thing sometimes)

**Yoshifan95: **Thank you for the praise! I was a little worried because the setting deviated so much from the Zeldaverse. And I'm happy you like it so far - this is the first time I've ever included pairings in a story, so I'm relieved it's working for people so far :D

**DeidaraIsGod2010: **It very well might! XD I actually didn't like the VxZ pairing at all once upon a time, until it kinda grew on me. I got a clear personalization of Vaati for myself and then, something about having Zelda in the equation became very rational (to me, at any rate). Since I used to not be too excited about the pairing I expected some people to be disgruntled... last thing I want is a flame war between supporters and non-supporters though, so I let people know what I was planning to do. I think it's all good - can't be too worried about what other people are thinking about pairings :)  
Thank you! I'm happy you like it, and wish me luck on this project :D


	12. Aokigahara

**Chapter 11: Aokigahara**

The next morning, Gale woke up to the sharp ringing sound of a phone. It was six in the morning. He stubbornly stayed in his bed for a few minutes until he couldn't stand the noise anymore. Rolling over, he stretched his hand over to the bedside table and slammed it over one of the vibrating cell phones Dugal had given all three of them yesterday.

"Uhhh, hello?" he asked groggily. Dugal's voice cheerfully answered him.

"Is this Mr. Petrov or Mr. Engst? Can you hear me all right?"

Gale stifled a yawn. _Why does he sound so goddess-damned chipper so early in the morning?_ "Yeah this is Gale. I hear you loud and clear."

"Wonderful! So the phones work." There was a mumble of voices as Dugal spoke with someone in the background. Then, he came back with a business-like tone. "Come down to the lobby by eight. That should give you plenty of time for breakfast. Got it? We certainly won't wait for you. We have a long drive to Mt. Omuro outside of Tokyo."

Gale mumbled an affirmative and then hung up. He noticed Link passed out in the bed next to him, and so threw a pillow at him. Link yelped and he flew up, his left hand automatically snapping over his back as though he were reaching for a sword. Rolling his eyes, Gale jumped up and threw open the blinds. "Get ready. Your Mr. Dugal wants us to be down at the lobby by eight."

XXXXXXXX

They met up with Zelda downstairs, and after a quick continental breakfast they got into the black Audi and made their way out of the metropolis. Zelda was politely quiet, taking everything in silently. There wasn't that much talk without Gale's complaining directed towards Link or his shameless flirting directed towards Zelda, much to everyone's relief. Gale looked both tired and slightly on edge in the presence of the suited men, especially Dugal. Therefore, the two-and-a-half hour drive to the Avilux I research facility was stiflingly quiet. Even Dugal, who had spoken for most of the trip from Narita yesterday, only stared outside the window or typed messages on his BlackBerry.

They had driven out of the city and had gone up into a mountainous region. Unlike the grey expanse that was Tokyo, the place they were at was empty of skyscrapers. The only things that blocked the sky were the mountains that surrounded them, and the snow tipped trees.

The car stopped in front of a white-walled building with few windows. The man with the blue tie, Condor, opened the door of the car and asked the three teens to step outside. Dugal straightened out his suit and waved his arms wide. "This is the Avilux I research facility. I know it looks small, but most of it is under our feet." The man laughed to himself as he strutted over to the simple building. "Research requires experiments to be shielded from sunlight. No wonder some of the white-coats are a little strange in the head. Hahaha!"

Zelda, Link, and Gale exchanged glances. Condor's gruff voice muttered after them.

"Like Willits, sir?"

Dugal held up a finger. "Condor! Are you in the position to ask such things? Just because you are associated with me does not make you Dr. Willits' superior," he said sharply. His easygoing attitude had completely dissipated, and Gale suspected this was closer to the man's true personality.

Condor said nothing for a while, and then gave a short bow. "I apologize, sir."

"Go find Hawk and Kestrel. Let them know I've arrived."

"Yes sir."

Link watched the man jog ahead and disappear into the building.

_Condor, Hawk, and Kestrel_…

There was that feeling again: the feeling that Dugal and Avilux I were involved in something much more sinister than simply uncovering the truth behind zerons.

_Names based on birds of prey? They can't be their real names, so does that make them code names? That's like something a gang or agency would do._ Link frowned. _I must be over thinking things… _

To ease his mind, he chatted to Zelda who seemed a little nervous. Her pink fleece jacket hugged her tightly and she kept her arms close, holding her bag in front of her. The only part of her that was loose and relaxed was her ice blond hair that waved in the mountain breeze; everything else about her was rigid. "I hope you don't turn into a crazy scientist," he tried joking.

Zelda smiled for the first time that day. "Oh? Will you not associate with me if I do become one?"

"Uh…" Link felt his voice catch. He was uncomfortably aware of how his cheeks were unnaturally hot in the cool winter air. Zelda giggled at his reaction.

"What are you two standing there for? It's warmer indoors."

Link was roughly pushed aside as Gale shoved through, his longboard under one arm. His other hand automatically found its place on Zelda's back as he began to walk her along. Link found he wasn't feeling too happy about this.

"You're not as pretty when you're standing stiff from the cold." Gale gave a snide grin. He seemed to be taking pleasure from the girl's obvious annoyance.

"What's with the longboard, Vaa - …Gale?" Link asked flatly, trying not to sound too upset but at the same time wanting to tell Gale that Zelda was off limits. _Zelda Sterling is not the same as Princess Zelda. Zelda Sterling is not the same as Princess Zelda. Zelda Sterling is… aw, screw it, they're too similar._

Gale temporarily took his attention away from Zelda and looked at his longboard. "I got Dugal's lackeys to put this in the trunk of the car. I'm not leaving this sweetheart. She goes where I go."

Zelda took the opportunity to wrench away, and she shot a scalding look back towards Gale. The albino had a cheeky grin across his face. "Aw, now no need to be jealous my dear! The Dervish may be my favorite, but you are far more interesting."

Zelda walked quickly to where Dugal had gone with Link hurriedly following protectively. "Please stop your shameless flattery. I do not appreciate them."

"Relax, you know you like the attention. You're so uptight."

The girl pretended not to hear him. All the while, Gale looked like he was having too much fun. He trailed after them, thinking with a smile, _I've trapped you in my game, Zelda, and you can't escape until I've won. After all… _

_I have never lost._

XXXXXXXX

Gale wasn't very impressed with the facility when he first stepped inside. There were two silver elevator doors on either side of a metallic receptionist desk. A few navy blue couches spotted the white marble, but besides that there was nothing else.

"As I said, most of the facility is on the lower floors," Dugal explained, noting the three's disappointed looks. He exchanged a few words with the receptionist, signed in, and then led them to one of the elevators. He pressed floor B2, and they descended.

"I'll give you a tour of the place, Miss Sterling. We will begin with the second level first, and then I'll take you to level three afterwards. Level one is where all of the offices and filing information is, and since that is more company work I think we can skip that level."

Zelda nodded. "Yes sir." The elevator lights blinked at B2 and they stepped outside to a long stretch of corridor. There was a map of the level posted on the wall next to the elevator, revealing a complex looking floor with many corners, rooms, and hallways. Gale thought it was unnecessarily maze-like.

"As for Mr. Petrov and Mr. Engst; would you mind taking the tour as well before I take you both to Skull Kid?" Dugal asked, and then stopped when he noticed a lanky man in his thirties standing awkwardly by the elevator doors. He was fidgeting with his hands and swaying from side to side, unable to make up his mind on how to catch their attention. "Dr. Willits? What perfect timing. What are you doing, standing out here, instead of having your nose buried under all of your paperwork and research?"

_So this is Dr. Willits_, Link thought. The man was extremely tall, and stood a good head above Dugal. He was almost as pale as Gale, most likely from the lack of contact with the sun, and he had a weird way of twisting from side to side as though he were uncomfortable with standing still. His stereotypical white lab coat did little to cover how thin he was.

Dr. Willits grumbled. "Perfect timing? That's because you insisted I wait here to meet the new recruit. You are at least half an hour late – I wasted half an hour standing here instead of working on something worthwhile."

Dugal drew a blank. A few seconds later, he laughed, slapping his palm on his forehead. "Ah yes, I'd forgotten I was supposed to let you know that I was to handle the tour since we figured you would be busy with your work. Terribly sorry," he added, not sounding too sorry at all.

"There you go again, Dugal! You never take your job seriously like most of us here and you think you'll get away with it all, just because you're good at what you do." The doctor sounded bitter. "It's no wonder the Air Force Academy didn't hesitate to kick you out as soon as they found an excuse to. I don't see what the boss sees in you; one of these days, you'll find yourself on the wrong side of Avilux I, and hardworking people like myself will be laughing when you pay."

"My, my, I know I was wrong to have lost your time but that doesn't mean you can insult me that way. Especially in front of visitors – you are embarrassing the company."

"The fact that I do not like you and your crew has always been clear, Dugal. I only listen to you because of your position."

Dugal coughed, and he turned momentarily to the bewildered three teens behind him. "Excuse my colleague." Then, he was beside the doctor in a flash and dropped a few words in an undertone. Dr. Willits flushed in a livid rage, but managed to nod once, apparently agreeing to something the other man had said. Dugal, meanwhile, was smiling amiably. A few more words were exchanged quietly, and finally, Dugal waved Zelda over. "Miss Sterling, please come with me. I will show you around. Mr. Petrov and Mr. Engst," he stopped the two boys, "please follow Dr. Willits. He will be more than happy to take you to Skull Kid."

_More than happy? This guy looks WAY more than angry,_ Gale thought.

The doctor stormed over to the elevator and impatiently called Link and Gale over. Zelda watched them, unsure of what to think about what had just passed. She didn't notice she was still looking at the elevator doors after they had shut until she heard Dugal's voice.

"If you would follow me, Miss Sterling."

"Oh!" She turned on her heel and hurried over. Glancing back one more time, she asked, "Is there something I should know about Dr. Willits? I might be working with him after all…"

The man seemed to consider her question, and then smiled. "You needn't be worried. He appeared cranky today because of my mishap, and it's no secret that I get on his nerves. His life is his research, you see, and he becomes upset with anything that interrupts it. He is not a difficult man at all – I only needed to remind him one thing to get him to see that we have to look our best in front of visitors such as yourself."

"What did you remind him?"

Zelda never noticed Dugal's face darken behind the cheerful smile. "Oh, I simply reminded him that I _am_ good at what I do."

XXXXXXXX

Gale and Link followed the muttering Dr. Willits, exchanging glances with each other from time to time. The tall doctor seemed to be talking to himself, obviously complaining about having to show around "these nuisances" and spewing curses at Dugal.

"Why can't Dugal take care of this himself? He thinks he's so much more important than me just because he has the title 'Executive.' Executive indeed! He's only a consultant after all and a researcher such as myself is far more important to the boss. That sly bastard…"

After many twists and turns through the labyrinthine corridors, the doctor's muttering finally stopped when he paused in front of a security door. There was a glass panel that served as some sort of observation window, and inside the room was –

"Skull Kid!" Link exclaimed, rushing to the glass. Sure enough, the mischievous boy (?) was sitting cross-legged on the floor playing with a toy recorder. Skull Kid looked up and waved at Link while Dr. Willits punched in a few numbers on the door's keypad. Gale found the situation odd – why in the world would an innocent research company keep Skull Kid in lock and key way down here in the basement?

"You have some visitors, Skull Kid," Dr. Willits called once he opened the door. His voice suddenly changed into something endearing instead of the hateful muttering. Apparently the doctor either really liked kids, or _really_ disliked Dugal. Link guessed it was both when Skull Kid ran over and tugged at the doctor's lab coat.

"Doctor Skinny! Let's play a game!" Skull Kid stuck his head around to take a look at Link as well. "Link, you too. I'm bored!"

The doctor smiled. "Isn't he a sweet boy?" He nodded his head towards Link. "It seems you spoke true as well when you said you knew him. We were wondering if this boy had any relatives at all since he never mentioned any."

Link took a step towards Skull Kid. Where was the Ocarina? He noted the bulge in the pocket of Skull Kid's hoodie. _That must be it._ Link frowned. _I can't do anything while Dr. Willits is here watching._

Before Link could think of a plan to take the Ocarina of Time away from Skull Kid, the boy in question screeched and jumped back.

"YOU! You're the white guy that was mean to me!"

"Me?" Gale scrunched his eyebrows together. _Why do I have anything to do with this?_ He scratched his head. "Oh yeah. I might have told you to get the hell away from me at one point."

Everyone was surprised by the sudden tantrum that exploded from Skull Kid.

"Go away, jerk! You're no fun at all, and I don't want to see your stupid ugly face. I don't want to play with you!"

Skull Kid made a grab for the Ocarina inside his pocket. At that moment, the doctor's hand shot forward and gently but firmly grabbed the boy's hand. Skull Kid resisted at first, but then relaxed when Dr. Willits tried to calm him down. Without turning around, the doctor addressed the shocked Link and Gale.

"Would you two boys step outside for a moment?"

Stricken, Gale quietly stepped outside first. Link spent a few seconds staring longingly at the ocarina in Skull Kid's possession before he dejectedly stepped outside as well. Once outside, Link leaned against the wall and sighed. "I was so close…"

Gale grunted. He also leaned against the wall and brought his hands behind his head. "Geez, what was up with that kid? He's totally mental, just like you."

XXXXXXXX

"We have a collection of zerons Dr. Willits and his team have been studying for some time now. He was highly impressed by the work you have been doing on analyzing the previous papers that have been written on zerons." Dugal was currently leading Zelda through the hallways of level B2. Several people in white coats and clipboards were walking around, as well as men in suits with red ties instead of Dugal's purple and Condor's blue. "Sometimes, people underestimate the importance of literature analysis studies that someone like you have done. We need people who can take all the separate studies and summarize them under one general, important idea that puts the key points together."

Finally, they reached a spacious room with a lot of expensive looking equipment. There was a researcher working at one of the terminals in the corner of the room, and in the center a team of engineers were working on some sort of device. There was a bluish glow in the room as sparks flew from the metal welders.

"This looks like something out of a science fiction movie," Zelda said, pointing at the cylindrical metal object the engineers were making.

"Indeed." Dugal scratched his chin. "I'm not too sure how this thing is supposed to work, but I was informed it's for the newest project involving Skull Kid's fascinating ocarina. Speaking of which, that was another reason why Avilux I wanted you to work with us."

Zelda raised her brows questioningly.

"Since you were the first to 'discover' Skull Kid's abilities with the ocarina, per se, you have the right to claim ownership of this research. However, we were aware you were limited in resources so I suggested to my employer that we take you under Dr. Willits' wing," the man explained.

Zelda nodded thoughtfully. "It was a reasonable offer." She frowned at the thing in the middle of the room. "Can you tell me what it is Dr. Willits wants to do with that… that device?"

"Ah yes! Follow me, I have something very interesting to show you." Dugal perked up and strutted over to the lady by the terminal. After quickly exchanging a few words, he led Zelda over to the large screen that powered up along one of the walls. An image of an arrowhead appeared on the screen. "I'm sure you are aware of what this is?" he asked, waving his hand at the image of the old arrowhead.

Zelda squinted, trying to get a better look. Then, she popped a fist in her hands. "Oh! Isn't this the first zeron ever discovered – the arrowhead that spontaneously combusts into flames, ice, and light?"

"Correct." Dugal snapped his fingers and the lady at the terminal nodded. The arrowhead onscreen burst to flames, and the fire molded itself into the outline of a large bird of prey. A faint outline of a triangle made out of three smaller triangles appeared over it as well. Zelda felt the image of the triangle over the bird was familiar, but she was sure she'd never seen anything like it before. Oh well. She went back to listening to Dugal ramble. "Here at Avilux I, the initial goal of the research with the arrowhead zeron was to determine the mechanism of the spontaneous combustion, and ultimately see if we could turn that discovery into a new energy source. This particular research was what created the Avilux I division of the company, really; before the company had a different name but the focus for this line of research had grown so large that my employer decided to change it. The logo was derived from the way the fire around the arrowhead would flare off to the side like the wings of a bird."

Dugal adjusted his glasses. "Study on the arrowhead gradually waned as progress seemed to halt. We just could not find a way to recreate the fire on a larger scale that would be more useful for us, and so Dr. Willits moved on to research some of the newer zerons that had been discovered."

Zelda sounded surprised. "There're more zerons?"

"Certainly, and many more that we have yet to discover, no doubt." The man's eyes glinted. "But, none is as exciting as Skull Kid's ocarina. When you told us about the 'fire fairies,' we realized that this may have the potential to revive our project on an alternate energy source. Dr. Willits has already done preliminary studies before your arrival, and he claims that these fire fairies also spontaneously appear without an apparent source. Do you know what this means?"

Zelda bit her lip, and then her eyes widened. She gasped. "Do you mean to say… no… No. I'm probably wrong. That can't be…"

Dugal only smiled.

"Are you… are you saying that this can lead to a possible – "

"Infinite energy source?" He was grinning from ear to ear. "Amazing what zerons can do, hmm? Now imagine what those fools who belittle energy manipulation will think when this gets published."

Zelda stiffened. Dugal was right. It _would_ show them – all those old fogies who had made fun of her team for pursuing a field that they claimed were a joke.

"Right now we are allowing Skull Kid to play around with various songs since he is the most musically gifted amongst the people here. Well, that and the fact he becomes downright hostile whenever we try to take the ocarina away from him." Dugal sighed tiredly, perhaps remembering an incident with Skull Kid. "It's no problem, however. I heard from Dr. Willits' associates that progress is being made and that pretty soon we'll be able to amplify the power of the fire faires into something that is more large scale. That's what this device is all about."

Zelda looked at the thing in the middle of the room again. What Avilux I was attempting to do was enormous. If this succeeded, then the world could forget about nuclear power plants and coal mining. They'll have clean energy that would be applicable to so many different things. She was speechless at the thought that she had been asked to take part in this project.

Dugal watched her carefully. "Now, Ms. Sterling, are you still interested in working under Dr. Willits for the company?"

Zelda blinked, and then stammered. "Are you… are you joking?" She shook her head, still stunned. "I'm still trying to get over the fact that you're asking _me_ to work for you instead of me begging to work for you." She took a deep breath, trying to sound as collected as possible.

"I would be happy to work for Avilux I, sir."

XXXXXXXX

The door opened, and a somewhat frazzled looking Dr. Willits stumbled through. He didn't look too happy with Link and Gale, but he didn't mention what happened with Skull Kid at all. He only mumbled something about the boy having sudden temper issues. Link took a peek through the glass windows of Skull Kid's room; the boy was back to playing with the recorder, but he was pouting slightly. Now was not the time to see Skull Kid again. He'll have to find a way to return later…

The doctor checked his watch, frowning. "Well, it's still a little early to let you two go since Dugal asked me to babysit you boys until a quarter of." He straightened out his coat. "I suppose I can show you our zeron collection. Would you care to see?"

Link nodded, and Gale shrugged. "Why not?"

"Follow me."

They walked to another section of the floor, this time going to a room that looked like a museum gallery. "Link, was it?" The doctor asked. Link didn't say anything, but nodded again. "I hear you were related to Skull Kid." The comment was prodding, but not pushy.

"Yeah. He's a distant relative, and I'd been looking for him ever since we split up," Link replied. He hoped that was an innocent enough answer, and he was relieved when the doctor seemed to buy the story.

"I'm sure you have an unusual story to tell about Skull Kid and yourself, but I'm not the type of person to take interest in such personal matters."

Well… Link wasn't sure if the doctor actually bought the story or he was an impersonal weirdo.

"I am, however, curious as to how Skull Kid got a hold of the ocarina. It is one of our most remarkable zerons, and unlike the ones we've found so far it's in good condition."

_Mmm, probably impersonal weirdo._ "It used to be mine."

"Oh really?" the doctor sounded surprised.

"Yeah. But I don't remember where I got it from because I've had it for as long as I can remember," Link added hurriedly.

"Ah, a family heirloom then?"

"You can say that."

Throughout the conversation, Gale appeared somewhat confused. He wondered what the connection was between Link, Skull Kid, and the ocarina, but he knew Link wasn't going to give them the full story now. He gritted his teeth, vowing to get the reserved blond to reveal more about himself. _What was that fool hiding?_

There weren't very many objects on display, but Dr. Willits seemed extremely proud of them as he explained what they were, one by one. He'd become cheerful again, back like when he had been dealing with Skull Kid. Gale figured as long as it was something related to his research, the doctor was going to be happy.

"We call this one the Wizard's Cane," Dr. Willits tapped the glass where an old, red cane was placed on display. Parts of the cane were badly damaged from age. "We were very fortunate to have found this buried in a bog, otherwise the wood would have decayed and we wouldn't have found it the way it is now. Like all other items displayed, this one is preserved in a vacuum casing to discourage decomposing."

"What's special about it?" Gale asked, trying to hide his obvious interest.

"When you swing this cane, a small red block appears out of thin air. Swing it again, and the block explodes and spouts fire."

"Wow." Gale moved his face closer to the glass. "Can we um… see?"

"I'm afraid not. This artifact is fragile as it is, and it's already heavily damaged. We believe that long ago this used to be able to create even larger blocks that made even greater explosions."

"You're joking."

"There's another reason why I don't want to demonstrate as well."

Gale tilted his head quizzically.

"Every time you swing the cane, energy is drained out of you. We had a few of our staff collapse after swinging it too much before we figured out that the cane was literally leeching off of them. It's not safe."

"Oh…"

Meanwhile, Link was silently taking in the details of the worn, red cane. He'd heard of it before in a story his Zelda had told him. The Cane of Somaria: a cane that takes the magic power of the holder and turns it into an exploding block. To think it had survived to this day was incredible.

The next object was a boot. Some feathers appeared to have once been stuck on its sides, but it was missing most of them and there was a gash across its sorry side. "Boots of Speed, or rather, Boot of Speed. We couldn't find the other one." The doctor frowned. "We discovered this grants the wearer to run over 30 miles per hour after some idiot decided to wear it and 'take a walk.' He should have known better than to have stuck his foot into an ancient treasure like this – he ended up crashing into a tree and cutting that gash across the side of the boot. He came out of that incident with a concussion and a twisted ankle; the concussion from slamming into the tree, the bad ankle from having one foot that couldn't keep up with the other one."

_Pegasus Boots!_ Link thought. It was another item from the old stories.

Gale crossed his arms. "Since you have one boot, why can't someone make a replica? Then you'll have both and in good condition, and you might even be able to place it on the market."

The doctor shook his head. "Of course we've tried to replicate it. It doesn't work. We just get something that looks like the original, but don't work like the original. That's the thing about zerons – we don't understand them, so we can't recreate them."

The last object in the room was a tattered gold gauntlet. Link recognized it at once. _I've worn that before…_

"The last zeron we have in possession are these gauntlets. It's not in good condition at all, but it was the best we could do."

"What do these things do?" Gale asked.

"The wearer gains the ability of super strength. Again, we have not been able to replicate the gauntlets. We thought it might have had something to do with the garnet set in the middle, but analyzing it revealed nothing. Our current technology still has trouble showing us what it is that makes these zerons different from ordinary objects."

"These all look old." Gale walked around the three objects again, stopping in front of the glass whenever he tried getting a closer look. "Is there a reason why the zerons you find are old?"

"An intuitive question," Dr. Willits approved. "We were able to use carbon dating for all three of them, and we came to a rough estimate that these were around ten thousand years ago. This is, however, a very rough estimate and we could be off a thousand years or more. We do our best to manage with what we have."

"Hmm." Gale thought nothing of it. Then, something struck him about the date. He stiffened, was about to say something, and then decided against it. _It has to be a coincidence!_ he thought. However, he was having difficulty getting over the fact that according to Link, Vaati had been around roughly eight thousand years ago, which was right around the time the zerons had been dated at. _Vaati, magic, zerons… eight thousand years ago_…

Gale didn't know what was relevant about those topics, but he couldn't dismiss them either.

_Magic isn't real, is it?_ He began to feel doubtful about his earlier resolve that Link was a lunatic. _But if that's true, then doesn't that mean I can very well be the Sorcerer Vaati?_ In the blink of an eye, all thoughts of Vaati disappeared as though a mental block had been placed on him. Puzzled, Gale tried to recall the small things he'd heard about Vaati, but he could only pull up a blank slate. His doubts slowly disappeared, and though he was bothered by the speed in which the amnesia had surfaced, he thought firmly to himself, _I'm Gale. No one will take that away from me._

"To answer your question," the doctor's voice interrupted Gale's thoughts. He'd almost forgotten he'd asked him something. "To answer your question," Dr. Willits repeated, "we go by the theory that there had once been a time when people knew how to create zerons on their own, and this is why the objects we find are all close to the same age. We don't know why we lost the knowledge, but that is something for the archeologists and not for an energy manipulation researcher like me. Besides," he continued, thoughtfully watching Link from the corner of his eye, "not all objects are necessarily old."

Link hesitated. He hadn't really been paying too much attention to the conversation, and it took him a moment to realize both Gale and the doctor were watching him curiously. "Oh!" he gave his best smile. "Skull Kid's Ocarina? Uh, yeah, our family took good care of it for many generations."

"And we're extremely glad to have come across a zeron like that in such great condition."

Dr. Willits appeared pleased, but Gale sulked in the background. He was sure that comment was another of Link's cover-up lies. Not being able to come up with a different explanation as to why the ocarina wasn't old like the other zerons, however, Gale gave up and resorted to glaring disapprovingly at the back of Link's head. There was something about Link that got on his nerves.

"Are these three the only ones you've found so far?" Link asked, unaware that he was being glared at. The doctor shook his head.

"We've heard rumors of others, and we've been trying to get a hold of them but it has been difficult. For instance, we heard a promising story about a special sword of mirages somewhere in a forest at the foot of Mt. Fuji, but we've had no luck. It turned out to be an urban legend."

The tone in Link's voice changed. "A sword in… a forest?"

The tall man leaned against the display case of the Cane of Somaria. "Hmm? Is something odd about that?"

"No. Just clarifying," Link said as though it weren't important. Gale, however, suspected otherwise.

"Ah." Dr. Willits turned away, and then he suddenly perked up. "Actually, you bring up a good point."

"Huh?" Link's eyes widened.

The doctor was grinning darkly. "It's not just any forest," he said in a hush. "It's the forest where no compass can save you, the forest where foolish wanderers become lost forever, the forest where once you enter, you can never leave." His voice was a whisper:

"Aokigahara Jukai. The Sea of Trees."

The three of them stood in an odd circle, none of them saying a word. Gale's eyebrows were twisted in a skeptic's arc, Link looked like a ghost had walked over his grave, and the doctor was frozen with his arms out melodramatically. Finally, Dr. Willits shook in uproarious laughter.

"Hahaha! You two look dumbstruck, especially you," he signified Link. "There's nothing at all interesting about Aokigahara except all the fantastic stories behind it. Most of them aren't true."

"Of course they won't be true," Gale muttered, somewhat relieved that there wasn't a possibility that an out-of-control zeron was causing paranormal activities.

Link, however, felt weak in the knees. He was sure, no, absolutely convinced that a special sword existed in Aokigahara.

_Aokigahara isn't just any forest, _he thought in a daze.

_It's the Lost Woods._

_

* * *

_Travel Log:

_Mt. Omuro - _After hearing all about the Tokyo skyscrapers, I wasn't expecting actual trees 2.5 hours away from the city. There's some snow on the trees, but not a lot of it. We passed a bunch of signs pointing towards camping grounds which there seems to be a lot of. Nothing too interesting out here.

_Aokigahara Jukai - _Haven't been there yet, but sounds like an ordinary forest. I think I heard something about how the place has the second most suicides in the world next to the Golden Gate Bridge. Ok, fine, that makes it less ordinary, but if you look past that part I am certain that there's nothing strange about it. I mean, c'mon, it's just a forest right? People lose themselves in forests ALL the time. Stupid Link... getting freaked out over nothing.

* * *

fleetfleets: I might have mentioned this already, but the places under the travel log are all real. Even the myths surrounding Aokigahara are real; they really do say people walk in, and never walk out. Oh yeah, this is a meaningless quibble but just like I represented Grandpa Loze with Ezlo, Dr. Stan Willits' character is derived from Zant (I'll be sure to include more Zant-like characteristics as the story progresses, cause right now he's just some random strange doctor). They're NOT reincarnations though, so don't take them as such. You can think of them as cameos :)

**Midna Hytwilian: **Happy birthday :)  
Good job catching the Shadow Beast reference! I knew I made it kinda vague, so I was wondering how many people were actually able to catch that. Haha, that last comment can be so true.

**Reily96: **I'm having waaaay too much fun writing Dugal. Seriously, I have to be careful he doesn't turn into a Gary Stu. :P  
Triangles are confusing enough... but pentagons?! (faints)  
And yesh, google earth is amaaazing. I can sit in my room and walk around Shinjuku if I wanted to. Take that, expensive planes!

**Death-Note-Zelda-Kitty: **I'm still surprised responses have been mostly positive towards Dugal, even though he's sneaky. Ah, you'd be surprised how careless security can be at airports (going in, at least. They're more thorough for immigration). Especially with passports. They just flip through it and away you go.

**Shadow Blues:** Don't worry about not reviewing - I know what you mean (guiltily looks at all the stories she's read and not reviewed yet...). Actually, that point will be addressed later - why Link seems to know some things about the future and not other things (like photo manipulating using computers). Because... if the stuff he "remembered" about the future are memories (be it muscle memory or actual memory), then whose are they? Just food for thought, and a hint for what's coming :P

**Astral S. Kepeire:** Ehehe, I knew someone was going to pick up on that - because I know I ignored the feeling there was a lot of stuff describing Dugal in that chapter, hoping no one would really notice (lol oops). Was it you who hasn't played TP yet? The black shard was a Shadow Beast reference that I wasn't sure many people were going to get (however, you're correct that it'll probably be mentioned again). Happy to hear you like it so far, 'cause this might be the hardest story I've had to write to date. :)

**marium: **Oh man, Tingle... I think I'm going to spare my readers this time around and not include him lol

**Darkwind:** Me too, actually (I don't remember if I already told you that or not). I think I became fond of the idea of Gale becoming addicted to getting Zelda to look his way, like a game. Yesss, the internet has spawned some really strange pairings O.o;

**lawleit: **Nice observation - the black shard is, in fact, very much like the thing Zant made except instead of turning that poor bloke into an awesome wolf it turned him into a Shadow Beast and killed him. (shakes head) Dugal and all those researchers probably don't know the magnitude of what they're trying to accomplish...

**LinkxDarkLink: **Yay Dugal fans! I saw someone with a Gale haircut a few weeks ago... you never know lol. Thanks, I had a wonderful break :)

**DeidaraIsGod2010: **Thanks for the praise! Eep, the triangle thing is going to be hard to write - i get nervous just thinking about it haha

**jioplip: **Oh wow, I guess that's one of those things spell check won't help you with haha. I'll have to find that and fix it, thanks for letting me know :)

**SubZeroChimera: **And I definitely will write more :D

**henslight: **Ah, ok. This story is completely, utterly unconnected to The Unresolved, Beyond Centuries, etc. So Vaati's still "the bad guy" and the goddesses are definitely not happy with him. It's a fresh start I'm taking (Opal appeared as a cameo, she's not the same as she was in the BC series). I'm a tad confused about the timeline stuff you're asking about, but if it helps, this story is slightly AU (I had to do this so I wouldn't have to be too concerned about messing up the timeline - I couldn't afford to argue with people about what timeline was the right timeline). I guess I'll be taking some info from Minish Cap, Four Swords Adventures, and Ocarina of Time: adult timeline.

Minish Cap - to follow Vaati's history

Four Swords Adventures - using the final battle as basis for Vaati's last known appearance according to this story. This is when his reincarnation spell triggered and he ended up cursing himself.

Ocarina of Time: adult timeline - this is where it gets AU. If I follow this one faithfully, then I probably won't be able to follow WW/PH/etc plots depending on people's ideas of where things go where. I won't be following this one faithfully, so it's AU. I'll be using this to take background info of objects such as the Ocarina of Time, Link's childhood, his relationship with Princess Zelda, and... and... ah crap I'm so confused. Bottom line: I haven't really thought through the timelines at all, and am using the fact it's AU to save me from confusion lol.

Yeah, Link's weird for me too. I guess it's the fact I'm trying to make him the stoic untalkative type added to the fact he's in the wrong time period... I'm still in the works of trying to figure it out.  
Mmmm... well... it _is_ going to be a triangle like I said... I can't make everyone happy :(  
Thank you so much for your review! It lets me gauge where I am with my writing, so they're extremely helpful. :)  
And of course you can draw fanart if you really wanted to, so long as they're cited :)  
You're on devart? Do you go by henslight there as well?


	13. A Glimpse of Vaati

**Chapter 12: A Glimpse of Vaati**

_What is the Adagio of Phoenix Flare? Well, you are familiar with the crest of the royal family are you not? It is a gold symbol of the Triforce with a bird beneath it. It is a little known fact that the bird holds as much significance as the Triforce as well. _

_In fact, you can say that the bird is the incarnate of the Fourth piece of the Triforce. Yes. There is a "fourth piece," which isn't a piece at all because it represents the empty triangle surrounded by the Three. The Fourth is the force that binds the three together – it is so chaotic that no chosen one exists to wield it like Power, Wisdom, and Courage. It represents the bond that my sisters and I share, as well as the bond the Three have. _

_The Fourth is uncontrollable. It is chaos, it is order, it is timeless, and it is fleeting. It is something to respect, but it is something to fear. The Ocarina of Time has the power to unleash the Fourth with the meddling of Skull Kid. When that happens, the result would be disastrous. _

_You see, the royal family sealed the spirits of the maidens in the Palace of Winds for a reason. Should a hero fail to appear when the world is at the brink of disaster, the spirits would do everything in their power to stop evil before it is too late. _

_Everything… even if it meant they would bring the destruction of most of the world with it. They would cast a spell to sink evil under an ocean, leaving behind a few island survivors to start anew. _

_It is the ultimate failsafe. Hyrule will drown as well, but the people will be given a chance to grow again. _

_The Fourth is neither good nor evil, but it WILL cause the spirits to attempt to stop it because the Fourth is a destructive power. The world will flood. _

_Yes Link. In this era… _

_The hero is no longer here. _

_You are our only hope. If you do not think you can stop Skull Kid in time, then you must get Vaati to take you to the Palace of Winds. He is the only person who can take you there, and together you must destroy the elements, release the spirits, and stop the Fourth. It is a lot to ask for, but you were given the responsibility of protecting the ages when you took the title of Hero of Time. _

_I believe that is all. I will not bother you again. Go forth, and hurry! Hurry before it is too late, and pray you will not have to face the Lord of the Three. _

XXXXXXXXXX

Dr. Willits covered his mouth with his hand, yawning. He glanced over at Gale who had his nose almost touching the glass around the gold gauntlet, and at Link who was standing stoically next to him. The doctor then looked at his watch. "Hmm, I'm going to leave you two here for a few minutes. I'd like to go work on some things like I was supposed to instead of watch after both of you." He said this with an annoyed expression. "Just don't touch anything and don't leave this place. Once I come back I'll hand you back over to that slimy Dugal."

_Feh, what a way to describe someone,_ Gale thought. He readjusted his weight and leaned against the Dervish he'd brought with him.

The two teens watched the edge of the white lab coat swish through the doors, and they became painfully aware of how empty the room was.

Link closed his eyes, thinking, and then they suddenly snapped open before he strode quickly to the doors.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Gale asked. Link stopped short of the doors, paused, and then slanted his head towards the other boy.

"…I'm going to go see Skull Kid one more time."

Gale rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation. "Geez, why? If the doctor finds out – "

"He won't." Link's snappish attitude startled Gale. "Since when were you one to listen to rules?"

"Huh? I… don't."

"Right." Link opened the door, his body in a low crouch as though he wanted to avoid getting caught.

"What's going on?"

"Stay here if you want. I just have a bad feeling about Avilux I, and I want to get this over with as soon as possible." Link poked his head around the corner to see if anyone was watching. "You've noticed it too, haven't you? Those guys in suits checking us, and even some of the people in lab coats. I could be wrong, but…"

_but EVERYTHING will be over once I reach Skull Kid and get back the Ocarina._

Gale followed after him with some trepidation. "I guess? I thought I was just being paranoid."

"Come on. Before we run into someone."

They quickly made their way back to the place where Skull Kid was kept, and oddly enough they didn't run into anybody. Link thought that was strange, but he decided not to think too much of it. Right now, his goal was to get the Ocarina, play the Song of Time, and get the hell out of this place. Too bad about Vaati and Zelda, but he had some confidence that they would be able to take care of themselves. Hopefully.

"It's locked," Link grumbled. The door to Skull Kid's room required a security code as well as keys to get by.

"Why would they need to lock him up with so much security?" Gale wondered.

Link bit his finger, his forehead scrunched in concentration. He'd been watching Dr. Willits punch in the numbers to the keypad earlier, and though he hadn't been able to get a clear view he had seen the general movement of his fingers. _Okay, it was a five-digit code, three numbers in the top row, and one each on the middle and bottom. The order was middle-top-top-bottom-top, and I'm sure I saw a 1 and 7 in there. Maybe 5-2-1-7-1?_

"Seriously? Dude, you'll never get that. Come on, let's just go back. This is stupid."

_Or 4-1-3-7-2?_

"It's not like you're James Bond or something."

_Please. 4-1-1-7-3?_

"Bebeep!" A tune rang from the keypad.

"…No freaking way."

Link smiled. _Hehe, seems I still have some luck with puzzles. _He shuffled his hands around in his pockets to find his pack of bobby pins. _Now for the keyhole. _

Gale shook his head in disbelief. "This is crazy." He walked over to the window where he could see Skull Kid lying on the floor, looking extremely bored. The boy noticed Gale standing outside, and for a moment their eyes met. "Uh, Link?"

The blond didn't notice Gale's voice was uncharacteristically nervous. "Hold on." Link twisted his screwdriver, and the bobby pin he'd stuck in the keyhole snapped. "Damn." He always did that when he tried to pick open locks in this world. The pins snapped at least once, just like the keys did back in his time whenever he tried to open a locked door. He took out another pin and tried again, and this time, it worked. "There."

"Link, I'd keep – "

When the door opened, Skull Kid was standing with his fists clenched around the Ocarina, his expression a snarl.

" – the door shut," Gale finished. His fingers drummed along the side of his longboard.

Link's eyes widened when he saw Skull Kid looking absolutely enraged. "Err… hi Skull Kid."

"I HATE YOU!" Skull Kid screamed. "I thought you were cool and that you'd play with me, but you like this LOSER more."

"Trust me, I don't," Link and Gale said in unison.

"I thought you would be nice to me." The boy's head slumped down, and his shoulders trembled. "I thought… I thought you would like me more than a… a bully like _him_."

Feeling guilty, Link took a step forward with his arms out. "Hey, hey, that's not true."

Skull Kid sniffled. "You were mad when I took your Ocarina, right? That's why you decided to bring a mean person like him, right?"

"This kid sure is annoying."

"Gale, shut up! Skull Kid, of course not. Here, can I see that Ocarina for a second? I know a song that you'll like." Link cautiously reached out his hand towards the instrument that Skull Kid was gripping close to his chest. The boy flinched backwards, and then glared.

"No."

"What?"

"I said _NO._" Skull Kid wiped the tears out of his eyes. "You're lying. Those dumb adults in black jackets say the same thing and I know they're just trying to take this away from me. Well I won't fall for that."

"I'm not lying…"

"Dr. Skinny said I shouldn't trust what those people in black jackets tell me! You're working with them, too, aren't you? I hate you Link!" Skull Kid took a deep breath as he prepared to blow a note on the Ocarina. "Dr. Skinny is nice to me! He lets me play whatever I like and he always says nice things to me! I don't want to play with liars like you!"

"Skull Kid…"

An eerily beautiful melody drifted around them as Skull Kid furiously began to play a song. His slightly spooky yellow eyes bore right through the teens as he watched them angrily. The room suddenly became hotter, and little balls of light began to appear.

Gale backed against the wall. "What… what is this?"

Link crouched, preparing himself for the worst. _Could this be a part of what Farore spoke about; could this be the Fourth?_

Suddenly, the music stopped for a brief moment as Skull Kid took a breath. He whispered, "go away."

"What the - ?!"

"Gale, this way!" Link grabbed the petrified Gale's wrist and yanked him out of the room. The orbs had flashed in an instant and sprouted wings of fire, each one swooping down on them. The two teens slammed the door shut, and watched in horrified awe at what was happening behind the windows: there was a violent wall of fire that was licking the glass angrily. Gale would have believed it if someone told him the fire was alive.

"Holy shit," he gasped. "What are those things?" He looked at his board in his hand. "Din's fire he burned my Dervish." Sure enough, the top half was a little singed.

"I don't know," Link trailed off. After taking a few moments to catch his breath, he brushed himself off. "This is a lot more troublesome than I thought."

"You two are the ones causing trouble."

A husky voice stopped the two dead in their tracks. Behind them was one of the men in suits with the red ties.

"Urk!"

"Ah! The Hell?!"

Just as they'd turned around, two more red-tied men caught Gale and Link. Gale struggled and swore under his captor's grip, and they wiggled around for a while as each tried to get the other one under control. Link, meanwhile, stood calmly and waited for an explanation.

"We have been watching your movements on surveillance, and deemed you to be a threat to the work we do here. Therefore, we apologize for what we must do."

Link surprised everyone with the speed he reacted to the situation. At the point the man had said the word "apologize," Link had already grabbed his captor's arms around his neck and bit down as hard as he could. Link's captor yelped, and the blond took the moment to spin around and knee him in the stomach, causing him to drop to the floor.

"Stop them!"

"Ugh…" the one holding Gale loosened his grip when he fell unconscious from a sidekick by Link aimed at his head. Gale cautiously looked up from behind his arms, and his eyes widened when he saw the first man reach into his pockets and pull out a gun.

_What the hell is going on?!_

"Gale, duck!" Link snatched the longboard from Gale's hand, sidestepped him, and swung it at full force over the albino's head just as he ducked to the floor. His movement caught the man off guard, and the Dervish knocked him across the jaw, rendering him limp like his comrades. The remaining two boys stood panting in the middle of the pile of people on the floor. Then, they heard a shout and footsteps running in their direction. "This way!" Link was the first to react, and he dragged Gale away from the approaching people. Gale himself was stuttering in shock.

"He tried to kill us. Holy Farore he tried to kill us…"

"Gale, snap out of it, we've got to run!"

"Why the fuck would he try to kill –"

"Vaati!"

That snapped him back. "Don't call me that!"

"Then run for Din's sake. We have to get out of here."

They dashed through the halls, weaving their way through the hallways and following the exit signs. They ran into a couple of startled researchers who looked at them with confused expressions as they ran past. After a while, there was a shout behind them as their pursuers began to gap the distance.

_They're not too far behind, _Link thought. As he ran, he began to have a bad feeling of following the exit signs straight on. _They'll expect us to go this way._

"Gale, this way!" He swerved to the left in the opposite direction of the blinking red sign. Gale skidded as he switched directions. His red eyes narrowed for a few seconds, wondering why they were going in the other direction, but he quickly caught on to what Link had realized.

"All right. Just don't get lost."

Suddenly, Link put the brakes on his heel and he crouched to the ground. Gale almost ran into him, and he stopped himself from cursing loudly when he heard voices approaching ahead. He snapped his head back; there were footsteps thundering behind them as well.

"We're cornered."

Link, however, was already on the move. He'd quickly gotten out his pins and screwdriver and had begun to fiddle around with the keyhole in one of the locked doors. In a few seconds, he had the door open with one less pin than he'd started with. "Come on, in here," he whispered urgently.

They shut the door and slumped to the floor as they took deep breaths. Frantic voices and footsteps echoed past the hallways outside, but none of them stopped to check the rooms that were supposed to be locked.

"We can catch our breath in here," Link panted.

Gale nodded, staring at the floor in somewhat of a shock at what had happened. His expression was one of disbelief that someone had tried to shoot him. His hands were shaking a little.

After a few minutes had passed, Link got up and surveyed the room they were in. It looked like an office, with papers stacked on the edge of the desk and a computer on the other. Everything was placed in a neat mess; even though there was disorder about the way things were sprawled all over the desk, there were hints that there was a system to the disorder.

Gale stood up as well, his breathing back to normal. He took a peek outside through the small circular window on the door, and then turned back to Link who was going through the contents of the desk. "You ready to go back out?" he asked him.

Link picked up some paperclips and shoved them into his pockets. "Yeah, we can't stay here for much longer."

Gale watched him continue rummaging around. "What are you doing?"

"I'm seeing if I can find more things to pick locks with. I'm running out of pins since they break every time I open a door. I think it's something that would be useful in the long run." Link's hand stopped over one of the documents on the desk. It had the heading Project: Avilux Ignis, and was signed at the bottom by Dr. Willits. However, that wasn't what had stopped him – it was the name next to Dr. Willits' that had caused him to freeze in his tracks. "This is…"

He dropped what he was doing and grabbed the document from the desk. He skimmed over the project outline, and the more he read it the paler he became. His forehead was perspiring.

"Hey, you ok Petrov?" Gale's brows scrunched together. "What's that?"

Link rolled up the paper and stuffed it into one of his large coat pockets. "This is serious," he said hoarsely. "We have to find Zelda and get out of here."

"Do you think she'll come with us? And that Dugal is with her, too. I'm not sure I'd want to face him. He seems sneakier than the other guys who'd been chasing us earlier."

Link tapped the pocket he'd put the document in. "Once she reads this," he prepared to open the door, "she won't hesitate to say goodbye to Avilux I."

XXXXXXXX

The elevator bell chimed, signaling they were now on B3. Dugal clicked his heel and he stepped outside. "Here we are, the lowest floor. This is where the zerons are kept when they aren't being experimented on."

Zelda was about to say something when a running woman in a lab coat ran into her. She mumbled an apology before running frantically towards the stairs and hurrying away. Dugal frowned.

"People seem unusually excited today," he said as another researcher followed madly after the first one. The man shrugged. "It's probably nothing. Here, I'll let you see what you need to see on this floor and we'll probably run into your two friends and Dr. Willits. This wa – " he stopped when he heard a tiny beep from the small black electronic device clipped to his ear. "…Ah, hold on a moment. Sorry."

Zelda tried to stand politely against the walls while she waited for Dugal. Meanwhile, she noticed a procession of researchers running towards the exit while a procession of red-tied men running in the opposite direction. Dugal appeared unfazed, lazily bringing his hand up to his earpiece and pressing a button.

"Yes?"

"Sir, we were wondering what we should do."

Dugal cocked his head with a slightly puzzled look on his face. "Condor? I'm a little confused with your question. Why are you asking me such a stupid thing? Do I have to tell you how to spend your time when you're bored?"

"…Well, it's just that you usually give us clarifications on orders like the one he gave everyone a few minutes ago." Now Condor sounded confused. "Does that mean we should follow what the Reds are doing as well?"

"What the Reds are doing?" Dugal watched a red-tie swiftly hurry away from him, alertly moving his head as though he were looking for someone. "And by 'he' do you mean our boss?"

"Yes sir."

"Sir, have you not heard about the most recent issued orders?" It was a new voice this time. Now, Dugal was starting to look extremely annoyed.

"Well, Kestrel, if you've been listening in on this conversation then I feel it's pretty damned obvious I haven't been told what's going on."

There was a slight pause, and then a baffled, "that's odd." The person named Kestrel continued to mutter to himself on the other end of the line. "Why would Mr. Dugal be left out of the loop?"

Dugal pulled on his collar. "So what were the orders? Quick!" he snapped, "I don't have all day."

A few minutes elapsed during which time the purple-tied man said nothing. Then, he hung up and grabbed his cell phone from his pocket. He punched in a few numbers calmly, but there could have been a vein pulsing on his forehead.

The phone rang two times. During that time, Condor's words circled around and around in his head:

"_We were told to 'disappear' the two boys who had come here. Cleanly if possible."_

Dugal took a deep breath when a gravelly, dark voice picked up. "Yes, Dugal? I had a feeling you would call."

"Sir, why wasn't I told of your orders?" He tried to keep his voice as civil as possible. The other person laughed.

"I understand you hate not being informed, but this time I didn't feel the need to let you know."

"What you're doing is absurd at this point! It would have been better if we'd waited!"

"It's not like you to be so worked up, good man." Dugal could imagine the voice on the other end smiling maliciously.

"You passed orders down to my men without letting me know first."

"They are also employed under my name."

"If I'm the Chief Executive Consultant, then it is my job to consult. How can I work under my title if your actions prevent me from – "

"Dugal, let me ask you something. Who is the boss here? You or me?"

Dugal bit his tongue.

"I thought so." The voice paused. "You are right, however, that part of your job is to give advice to me. What do you think would have been better?"

"We could have gotten more information from them," Dugal said slowly. "You could have left it to me to… take care of things."

"I considered that. It's true you're good at what you do," at this, the voice laughed again. "However, another thing about you is that you have the tendency to do your own thing from time to time. I'm well aware I don't have the same grip I have on you as I have on the ever loyal Willits."

Dugal sighed inwardly. _Oh yes. That ever devoted automaton of a man, Willits._ "Are you questioning my trustworthiness sir?"

"You know we all do. You have never been a team player."

_That's true. And smart._ He agreed, but said nothing.

"Though I admire men who live for themselves, they can cause problems when they are working for me. I believe you were the one who openly mocked the company slogans to the executive board?"

"I only said the comments on Share, Connect, and Innovate to be overly cliché and stupid."

"I've let you go because you have proven to be valuable in the past, but you are walking a fine line of being an asset and a nuisance. What will I do if all of my workers begin thinking the same way as you?"

"Yes sir."

"I'll give you one last chance. Deal with the two boys who know about the Ocarina. Make it so we won't be bothered by investigators; the usual drill."

"Sir."

"After running background checks, neither of them have any family to speak of except one old man in the US. Shouldn't be too difficult for you."

"No sir."

"Good. This is your new assignment. Don't have too much fun with it."

"Just one question sir."

"…What is it?"

"Is there a time limit?"

Some time elapsed. Then, "As soon as you can. I don't like having more people than necessary knowing about the Ocarina right now, and I especially don't like Link Petrov."

"Understood. Sir." Dugal hung up. His boss had told him 'as soon as he could,' so he was going to take his bloody good time. That was the good thing about working for the boss; the way he phrased things allowed him to work however he liked. _He_, Dugal, was the real boss here. He didn't know what Link and Gale had done to get on the wrong side of his employer, but he knew the Ocarina was a touchy subject, and from their conversation it seemed they knew too much about it.

They were unlucky – if they hadn't known much about the Ocarina then they wouldn't have been under the boss's radar in the first place. However, they weren't completely out of luck. At least the one who was going to go after them was the one and only Dugal – he didn't plan on getting rid of them just yet.

Afterwards… well, then they might be unlucky but for now he was going to spare them. They were too interesting.

"Zelda!"

A sharp voice got their attention. Link and Gale were running straight for them, their expressions pulled back fiercely like they were running for their lives. Link hesitated when he saw Dugal watching them with a cold eye, but then continued to run after Gale who was quickly making his way over to them.

"Ah, hello boys. What's the hurry?" Dugal asked amiably, his hand reaching into his suit. Then…

_BANG!_

There was a gunshot, and then a scream as Zelda flattened against the wall at the sight of a man wielding a pistol behind the running teens. Dugal flinched, a bullet zipping past him, and Gale took the moment to duck past him and grab Zelda by her arms.

"Run!" He was pulled back by the weight of the girl who had gone weak in the knees. Gale scowled, reluctant to drag her while carrying his board as well – he would lose too much speed. In one movement, he threw his Dervish on the polished floor and picked Zelda up off her feet. Gale then jumped onto his board and skated towards the stairs on the other side of the hallway. He was thankful she didn't weigh much, and that in her shock she didn't struggle… at least at first.

"What are you doing?! Put me down!"

"And get shot?! I don't think so princess." He dug his weight into his heel to compensate for his wavering balance.

"Would you stop it with the princess thing?!"

Dugal, meanwhile, was not too happy with the recent developments. Instead of following Gale and Zelda who had gone past him, he turned around and faced Link and his pursuer who was approaching. Link bit his lip when he saw Dugal pull out his M1911.

_This is bad,_ he thought, mind racing as he ran. _There's a man trying to shoot me from behind and up ahead. What do I do?_

He didn't need to think too hard, however, because instead of stopping him Dugal took several paces forward and walked right past him.

_What?!_ Link almost tripped in surprise, and dared to turn around to see what was going on. Dugal had his gun aimed at the man who had been pursuing him earlier, and the unfortunate man was wide eyed in similar confusion.

"Drop it, or I shoot your arm off," Dugal growled.

The man with the red tie protested, watching the three moving farther away from them. "Sir," he said shakily and slightly out of breath. "I was told to stop them sir!"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean we have to try to shoot them down so they'll be a bloody mess, does it? Do you want to clean that up? I sure don't." He took the gun he was pointing at the man and pointed it in the general direction of Gale, Link, and Zelda. He gave a cheerful smile. "Oh don't worry. They won't get away. Are you ready to run after them? I noticed you have terrible aim - I'm about to show you the right way to shoot a gun."

He squinted his eyes and took aim. Gale was just about to reach the door. Then, Dugal pulled the trigger.

Gale cursed loudly, and he and Zelda went flying forwards as longboard's back left wheel detached from the trucks. The metal connecting the wheel and the trucks had dented where the bullet had struck.

Link caught up to them and lifted them both off the ground, supporting them with his arms. Groaning, Gale limped to his feet while Zelda stumbled after. The white haired teen looked as though he was going to go back for his board, but he noticed Dugal grin and spin his gun. Gale's face twitched, and then he quickly retreated and shut the stairwell door on the red-tied man that had run after them.

Dugal casually pressed the button on his earpiece and waited for a voice behind the static.

"Sir!"

"Sir."

"Sir?"

Three voices answered. Nodding satisfactorily, Dugal entered a light jog towards the stairwell that the three teens had disappeared to. "Listen closely. Kestrel, Hawk, I want the two of you to ready my car just outside the building. I have a feeling it will come to good use. Condor, you will go after Mr. Engst, Mr. Petrov, and Ms. Sterling. Do not let them get away, but do not kill them. I want them all in one piece."

"Yes sir," three answered.

"Good. I will see all of you shortly."

XXXXXXXXX

Link, Gale, and Zelda panted up the steps as they went around the stairwell. Link tried to encourage the other two to keep running. "Once we're safe, I'll tell you both everything, I promise."

Gale glared between puffs. "You better. I think I deserve to know more than anyone."

Zelda didn't say anything, watching the stairs under her feet as she stepped over each one. She appeared to be in too much of a shock at what had happened, much like Gale had been before. It seemed the only person who was unfazed was Link; he bravely moved onwards.

On their way up, they ran into a dozen or so red-tied men who had blocked the stairs. In the middle of the group was the blue tied man who had been Dugal's driver, the man who had been called Condor. He stood as neatly as the set of his dark blond-brown hair.

The three stopped five steps below the group, four of who had guns aimed at them. Condor was the first to cut the heavy silence. "We promise we won't shoot if you come with us quietly."

"How can we trust you?" Gale asked.

Link nodded in agreement. "You didn't seem hesitant to shoot us earlier."

"The orders have changed. We are not to shoot you as long as you cooperate."

"What do you want from us?" Gale's voice was demanding. "What did we do that you want us dead for?"

"That's none of your concern. Do you think you're in the position to be making demands?" Condor stepped aside and allowed three of the men in red ties to pass. He addressed them. "Get them. Break their arms if they give you too much trouble."

There was a gasp from Zelda and protests from the two boys. Link managed to sock one in the face before two who had ganged up on him overwhelmed him. Zelda, who was still muddled about the situation, could only stand submissively as the men took her arms.

Gale was struggling against two men who had grabbed his arms. He growled and snarled, occasionally spitting curses in between as he twisted around in their grip. He was the last person to continue struggling against their captors; unlike Link or Zelda, he just didn't know when it was a good idea to give up for plan B. The men on either side of him exchanged glances, and Gale felt the pressure on his arm tighten. He was sure they were planning to break them.

"I said," Gale clenched his teeth, "_let go of me, insolent fools!_"

Link's head snapped up as something about Gale changed in that split second. He couldn't really tell what had happened next, but Gale had spread his palms and the two men holding him had slammed against the walls. Everyone stood still in open-mouthed shock, trying to register what Gale had done. They didn't have too long to wonder; a vicious snicker escaped his lips, and crossing his arms in front of him in a brace, he snapped them outwards in an arc the next instant. It was almost like Moses parting the Red Sea, with the group of suited men crumpling to opposite sides and creating a clear path through the stairs.

Silence. The only ones conscious were Link, Zelda, and Gale. Link gingerly walked up to Gale, Zelda cautiously following close behind him. "…Vaati?" he tried.

Suddenly, Gale collapsed to his knees, clutching his head. There was a shout, and the pale teen began to screech in an emotion Link wasn't sure was pain or hateful anger. "Damn you goddesses! I won't slip away! I won't forgive it! Uuurraaaaggh my head…" there was a break as Vaati groaned and uttered a string of incoherent words. "I… was so close. So… bloody… close. This… stupid curse…"

"Vaati! Please, don't fade away – we could use your help." Link took him by the shoulders. He resisted the urge to flinch away. _This vile aura; this HAS to be Vaati. Did Farore really ask me to enlist the help of this guy? _

"VAATI!"

Link froze. Vaati's head had snapped around so he was eye-to-eye with those pools of spiteful crimson. Vaati's eyes narrowed and there was a sharp intake of air as he hissed venomously, "_You again_."

"Huh?" Link's forehead creased. "What do you mean, again?" But he couldn't get an answer, for Vaati's expression relaxed and became dazed. He twitched once and his hand shot up to his head. The white haired teen grimaced.

"Unnnnn, what just happened?"

Link frowned. "Hmm. Vaati?"

"Fuck you."

The blond rolled his eyes. "Gale?"

"What do you want? Weren't we in the middle of running?" Gale winced and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ugh, my head. I feel horrible."

_Annnd we're back to Gale. _Link sighed. At the moment, he didn't know which version he preferred. Probably neither.

"Whoa, what happened? Why is everyone unconscious?"

Link ran up the steps two at a time, taking the lead once more. "You did that. Come on, we should hurry before more of them come. We might not be so lucky next time."

Glale made a face. "Hold on, _I_ did _that?!"_ Something brushed past him, and he tilted his head in puzzlement when Zelda looked at him from the top of the stairs a little fearfully.

"Yes," she said quietly. "And I agree with Link. We should go."

Not entirely satisfied, Gale followed them. He shook his head. He had a hard time believing skinny Gale would be able to take on a dozen or so adults armed with guns without a single scratch on his person. Still, both Link and Zelda had seemed funny around him.

He shrugged. _Oh well. The only important thing is we didn't get caught this time around._ It was a shame he couldn't remember anything that had happened except the dull throb of a headache.

* * *

fleets: Wow, I had to cut the stop point for this chapter earlier than I'd initially intended (honestly didn't think this whole running about in Avi I would require more writing than usual). Vaati finally, even if it was only for a brief moment - writing him was fun.

Also - bahahahaha bobby pins and paper clips are the keys in this world! lol. That's why Link breaks them, and can "pick locks" if that wasn't made clear in this chapter. (was the best equivalent i could come up with... sadly).

* * *

Travel Log: N/A since Gale is currently running.

* * *

**Midna Hytwilian: **Ohohoho yes I have fun playing tricks with poor Gale's mind. Missed Vaati though, so he got an appearance this time around lol

**Reily96: **Nonlinear polygon... O.o my mind is blown. (cough) anyways, fwahaha the Nile seems to be popular with the characters in my story these days. They should have a river partay. XD

**henslight: **It's about time Link explained things - first, though, he'd have to get himself out of this new mess XP

**LinkxDarkLink: **It's not LoZ without the Lost Woods (at least for me), so yessss there will be Lost Woods some time ;)

**Darkwind: **I felt the story was losing its connection with the Zelda-verse, so I thought those items would help reconnect it better :)

**marium:** He's gotten close, but apparently not close enough. Vaati didn't sound too happy about Link though :P

**Astral S. Kepeire: **BC was really confusing because I tried to make sense of the timeline. With Avi, I gave up. It's too hard lol. I think the foreshadowing got even worse this time, especially since I was originally planning to reveal the personality of the boss but decided against it this time around. I hope I don't agonize people for too long and start giving out answers xD.

Of course I'm not irritated with critique! As long as it's constructive and it's not like "you suck" without telling me why, I rarely get annoyed. Evil Riggs was one of my first super critiquers, and I don't think I would have improved so much without his help. :)

**SubZeroChimera: **Thank you, and I'll sure try to keep it good to the end :)

**Death-Note-Zelda-Kitty: **Nono, take your time :)  
The rumors and the name for Aokigahara Jukai in Japan is allllll real. It exists, and they have real problems with people disappearing in there (though it's suspected to be because of suicide). It even led to a book named "Kuroi Jukai," the Black Sea of Trees.  
Dugal is happy you think he is cool.


	14. Talon Three

**Chapter 13: Talon Three**

It appeared most of the men in red ties had been wiped out from their earlier confrontation with them by the staircases; Avilux I hadn't expected them to make it past the stairs and up to the first floor. Because of this, the rest of their run to the lobby of the facility wasn't met with any resistance. Only the lady at the front desk exclaimed in surprise when Link, Gale, and Zelda ran madly outside, but besides that their way was completely clear.

Zelda had become increasingly assertive the farther they became from the facility. Spotting the Audi they had arrived in earlier, she pointed to it and called, "This way!" before running in that direction. She was in the middle of trying to smash open the front window to open the lock, but Link stopped her.

"Hey, no need for that." He took out his lock picking tools and opened the car door, and then quickly moved on to start the engine.

"Show off," Gale muttered.

Zelda glanced over at the grey white building – there were two men running towards them, and from the purple tie she guessed one of them was Dugal. She tapped Link on the shoulder. "Quick, let me drive!"

Link faltered. "You? But…"

"No buts! I don't mean to brag, but I used to take part in unsanctioned races down the old mountain roads with the local guys. I'm probably better than you."

Link decided not to argue, and he slid over to the passenger seat. Gale hopped into the backseat, slammed the door, and found himself pressed against the seats before he had his seatbelt on. Zelda hadn't hesitated to slam her foot on the gas, quickly gaining distance from the running men.

"Don't underestimate me," she told the two boys who were sitting, stunned, in open-mouthed surprise.

XXXXXXXXX

Dugal had run into a dazed Condor when he'd gone up the stairwell. A dozen unconscious Reds had also surrounded him. "What has happened here?" He'd demanded.

"Well sir, they got away…"

"I can see that! I'm asking how three shrimp like them managed to get past all of these Reds and one of my best men. I thought you'd be able to handle this."

"I'm wondering the same thing, sir. It was that white haired one – he did something strange…"

Dugal hadn't been too pleased with that one. He'd decided against berating Condor, however, since he needed him in his chase. Half dragging the stumbling man, Dugal had dashed up the steps to catch up.

_I hope Hawk and Kestrel will be able to stop them. I have some faith in those two. _

He was now sprinting past the receptionist who pointed outside, stuttering something about three teenagers running away. Cursing himself for being too arrogant and not stopping them when he could have earlier, he picked up his pace. Condor followed shakily after him.

Once outside, he noticed the three sitting inside of the black Audi and attempting to start the engine. _Goddesses damn it! I underestimated them._ He pressed the button on his earpiece to get in contact with Hawk and Kestrel.

"Hawk! Kestrel! Where are you?! They're getting away!"

There was a slight buzz and then a voice replied simply, "We have your car ready for you, sir, just like you asked."

"What?!" Dugal snapped his head around, searching for them. Sure enough, some feet away from the Audi was a silver Mercedes-Benz; Dugal's CL65 that he was quite proud of. His frown deepened when he saw two men in suits, both with blue ties like Condor, sitting in the backseat and waiting patiently like two children waiting for the bus driver to start the bus. Dugal shouted while running. "Why aren't you going after them?!"

As he opened the door, the Asian man with shoulder-length hair and sunglasses shifted in his seat. "We were specifically told to ready your car sir." The droopy eyed Caucasian sitting next to him nodded in agreement.

"Kestrel's right, sir."

"You stupid… Condor! For the love of Nayru stop making a fuss and get in the passenger seat because _I'm driving this time!_ Dear goddesses I'm surrounded by idiots." He slammed the door and pressed the pedal, hard, causing his three colleagues to be thrown backwards. He kept his eyes trained on the retreating Audi.

Once Condor finally managed to buckle his seat belt, he mumbled in a low voice. "Sir? Hawk and Kestrel _did_ do as they were told…"

"Shut up!"

The car swerved sharply, the back wheels drifting as Dugal expertly kept up with Zelda who was a pretty good driver herself. Dugal gritted his teeth. His three best men were the best in his eyes because they followed orders exactly. In times like these, however, their lack of autonomy had turned into a handicap instead of a desired trait. Condor was a little better about making decisions independently, but that was also why Dugal always kept a better watch on him. He sighed; this was what his employer must feel like with him and the rest of Avilux I.

"So what happened to you, Condor?" Kestrel asked, pushing his sunglasses up so they hid his narrow Japanese eyes. "It's not like you to screw up Mr. Dugal's orders."

Hawk nodded again in support of his partner.

Condor frowned. "I ran into unexpected problems. That white haired one has abnormal abilities."

"You're a member of the Mr. Dugal's Talon Three. We're supposed to be able to handle everything."

"What about you? If you and Hawk had half a mind you wouldn't have sat here and let the three targets get away. Were you too busy polishing your obnoxious sunglasses? What use are they anyway?" Condor retorted.

Kestrel looked offended. "Well – "

"If you are both _men_ you will stop bickering like women." A low growl from Dugal stopped them both. "Kestrel, stop speaking to Condor as though you have my authority. Condor, no cheap shots at Kestrel – he can wear shades if he so chooses as long as his work brings results. Results are all I care about, and today all three of you failed in epic proportions. I suggest you don't do anything more to remind me of your failures if you don't want to be thrown out of this car." He gripped the steering wheel tightly, readying for another sharp turn as the Audi in front of them skidded around the mountain road. "I created the Talon Three to be the best troupe for hire for… high risk taking businesses. If you jeopardize the Talon Three's name you will be replaced."

"Yes sir."

"Yes sir!"

"Sir."

XXXXXXXX

The black car trying its best to keep its distance from the silver Benz screeched around the winding road, drifting as it turned. The two boys whose life was in the gutsy girl's hands yelped as they were thrown against their seats in yet another tight turn.

"Hang on!" Zelda warned, quickly shifting lanes to prevent the silver car from passing them. The Benz seemed to snarl in frustration as it veered between the lanes, trying to find an opening to pass. A bead of sweat rolled down Zelda's forehead – she knew that as soon as the Benz passed them it was over. Dugal would be able to block off the road and force them out of the car.

"Aaah!"

"Holy Farore!"

"SHIT."

They skidded over to the left side of the road when a car came driving straight towards them. Horns blared as the two cars tried to avoid each other, and the poor driver in the other car slid out of control when the Benz following the teens screeched past in pursuit. Zelda thought her heart had stopped. "Oh my goddess. I forgot that I'm supposed to drive in the opposite lane in Japan."

"Y-yeah."

"…"

Link stuttered, while Gale seemed to have lost his voice. Both of them didn't mention they were having some doubts on handing their lives in her hands. Once the car had steadied, Link peeked over at their driver. She had a strange sitting position, he noticed, and when he looked down at the pedals he could see why; her right foot was angled so that her toes could press down on the gas and her heel could press down on the brakes. He felt the need to mention this to her.

"Um, I'm not sure that's the normal way to drive."

Zelda barely moved her eyes from the road in front of her. "Well, we're not driving normally are we?" She snapped. "This is the mountain racer's way."

"Sorry…" Link apologized sheepishly.

"You had better mean it," Zelda said flatly. "First of all, I don't really know either of you and I bring you along because you seemed to know about Skull Kid. Then we come here and the next thing I know you're being chased by people who are trying to shoot you, and then I get caught up in it too." She didn't sound happy at all. "Just what is going on?!"

Link steadied himself with his hand. "Avilux I isn't just an ordinary company. They are part of an underground criminal organization."

A huge sigh drifted from the backseat. Gale was mumbling something along the lines of "here we go with the stories again."

"If you don't believe me, just read this."

Tilting his head, Gale reached over and grabbed the packet of papers Link had passed to him. He quickly looked through it, and his expression became sterner the more his eyes moved down the page. "Is this what we found in the office we hid in?" Gale asked slowly.

Link nodded. "Yeah. And it says there – "

"It says here that Avilux I plans to create an infinite energy source that takes the form of 'living fire.' They named it Avilux Ignis… Link, do you think those things we saw Skull Kid summon were the 'living fire?'"

Zelda's voice wavered a little. "Dugal talked about finding an infinite energy source…"

"Except," Link continued darkly, "it says here that Avilux I isn't planning to use it as an energy source at all. It says – " his voice trailed off. Gale finished for him.

"It says the organization is planning to use Avilux Ignis as an infinite, indestructible weapon that can bend even the most powerful nations under their will."

"That's not all. Gale," Link pointed at the second page of the stapled booklet. "Look at what it says on the next page."

Gale obliged, and he skimmed over the following page. "Ah, it's just a confirmation contract with a group called the Talon Three. It says… wow this doesn't sound good. It says they were specially hired to make sure the Avilux Ignis project succeeds. They're not going to like us very much."

Gale looked sharply in the rearview mirror to see the Benz nudging over to a small gap on the right. He barked sharply, "Zelda! Focus on your driving."

Zelda's hand was white against the steering wheel. She stammered. "Ta-Talon Three?" She quickly regained her composure and sped up to gap the distance between the Audi and the Benz. The silver car behind them roared its engine as it increased speed to catch up. "I've… heard of them before. They're freelancers of a sort; large companies ask them to perform services most people would find morally wrong to do. They do the dirty work, and when I say dirty I mean really dirty." Her brows were scrunched in a knot. "I've heard rumors of people disappearing under their name because they were unlucky to have a company hold a grudge against them. My father talked about them once, when they'd asked if he wanted to use their service but he'd declined."

"I'm placing my bets Dugal is part of the Talon Three." Gale said quietly. The other two didn't say anything, their silence confirming all of their suspicions. Gale remembered how the man in the purple tie had so accurately shot the wheel off of this Dervish by punching a hole in the board's trucks. He was pretty sure after that one shot that Dugal could have shot them all dead if he'd wanted to. The knowledge that Dugal himself didn't want them dead was only of little consolation.

"We need to find a way to lose them," Zelda bit her lip. She had never imagined Dugal to be able to keep up with her driving. Then again, now that there was a possibility that he was a member of the infamous Talon Three, she wasn't too surprised anymore. The silver car had fallen a little behind because of her skillful maneuvering, but it was slowly gaining ground again. _What do I do? He's too good and I don't know how to lose him. _

"Ummm, that's not good."

Gale pointed at the blinking arrows indicating a narrowing road and construction up ahead. Suddenly, Zelda had an idea.

"Perfect!"

"?" The two boys had confused looks on their faces. Zelda only grinned, and she slowly pressed her foot on the brakes to slow down the car back to the speed limit.

"Why are we slowing down? Don't we want to be going faster?"

Zelda shook her head. "Not if we're law abiding citizens." They passed the construction workers and a parked police car near the site where they were repaving the cracked mountain road. Zelda grinned devilishly when she noticed the Benz flying towards them determinedly. "Don't worry," she reassured her skeptical passengers, "they're falling straight for my trap."

XXXXXXXXX

Dugal squinted, wondering if he wasn't just imagining things. The spiffy little Audi that had been racing ahead of them expertly was slowing down. "That's odd."

"Perhaps they're running out of gas, sir?"

Dugal tapped his finger on the steering wheel. "I doubt it. You know we always keep the cars prepared and make sure they have plenty of fuel." He slightly dropped his speed when the lanes narrowed for construction, but still continued fast enough to close the gap between the two cars. Whoever was driving the Audi was good, and he wasn't sure he wouldn't lose them if he didn't keep up with them now. Impatience got the best of him; ignoring the signs telling them to slow down, Dugal let the Benz inch closer and closer to the Audi in front of them. "Once we're out of this construction zone I can cut in front of them. Things should be easy after that."

Still, he didn't know what the brats were doing. They were now cruising along at the speed limit and increasing the risk of getting caught by him. Were they giving up?

"Sir, I hear sirens."

Condor and Kestrel turned around to join Hawk in looking out the back window. Dugal's eyes twitched over the mirror, and he let out an exasperated grumble when he saw the red and blue lights closing in on them. The siren's wail continued relentlessly. "How annoying."

Dugal grudgingly let his car slow down and pulled off to the side, never keeping his eyes off of the black Audi that quickly became farther and farther away. He was embarrassed that they'd managed to get away because he had been too impatient to follow the speed limit. He couldn't help it – he hated following the speed limit and he had been in a hurry to catch them. Dugal rolled down his window when the officer walked over with his notepad. Straightening out his tie, the leader of Talon Three made an attempt to look as friendly as possible.

"Ano, dondake hayaku hashitte ta ka shittemasuka?" The officer spoke in a slightly condescending tone, asking them if they knew just how fast they had been driving in a slow zone. He was eyeing Dugal's luxury sports car and Armani disapprovingly. The rich seemed to think they could get away with anything…

Dugal unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door, and then motioned the other three to do the same. "Kestrel, explain to this officer we're sorry and that we were in a hurry," he ordered. Kestrel nodded, and switched spots with Dugal to talk to the officer in Japanese. The officer frowned, inquiring where the man in the purple tie was going; he needed to speak to him since he had been the driver.

"Nihongo ga shaberenai no desu yo." _He can't speak Japanese_. Kestrel then went on to explain they would take responsibility. They talked until they heard the dull revving of an engine.

The officer shouted and started sprinting towards the police car that was now under Dugal's possession. The driver just shrugged before he let the car accelerate in a new pursuit of the runaway Audi. He was sure his men would be able to get out of trouble with the police themselves – right now, he had some kids to catch.

"Hmm," he flicked on the switch that turned on the siren and increased the car's speed. The man smiled. "Don't think you can get away from Dugal so easily."

XXXXXXXX

Zelda drove quickly yet cautiously, the car entering a town. She was somewhat exhausted from driving for over an hour, nervous about the man pursuing them all the while. Even though she was relieved that they had managed to lose the silver Mercedes thanks to the police, she didn't trust herself to let her guard down. She had a feeling Dugal wasn't done with them yet, and that he could surprise them with anything.

The talking GPS that was attached to the front of the car dinged, and a woman's voice spoke "you are now approaching Sagamihara City." Earlier, Link had managed to figure out how to get the GPS to start working, and had directed it to take them to the nearest train station. They had been in luck that it had been programmed in English, and that the owner of this car (most likely one of the Talon Three) had decided to install a GPS. Without it, Zelda was sure they would have had more problems to arrive at the city.

"All right," Gale leaned forward in his seat. "You two know what we're doing as soon as we get to the station, right?"

"Get directions on the best way to Shinjuku Station, which is the closest to Hilton Tokyo," Zelda replied. Link frowned.

"You know, I still don't like the idea of going back to the place where Dugal will expect us to go."

"Do you think we have any other choice? We can't leave the country until we get our passports back from the hotel room." Gale muttered sounding annoyed. "I don't like it either."

"I have a feeling Dugal won't try to make a move around Hilton Tokyo."

"What makes you say that?" The albino turned to Zelda. She seemed to be thinking of something.

"Well, I remember seeing a huge police station near the hotel. If he does try to start something, he won't be able to do anything that catches too much attention. Our safest route will be to go where there are lots of people so he can't try anything suspicious, and if you remember what it was like around that area you can bet he won't be able to do much without getting caught."

"Maybe…" Gale didn't sound too convinced. "I'm not entirely sure that will stop him though."

"Stop being so pessimistic. Like you said earlier, we don't have much of a choice if we want to go back to the US."

Following the GPS directions, they managed to find their way to the train station. If he'd been in a much more relaxed situation, Gale would have taken some time to marvel at how efficiently space was used for residences, but at the moment he was too busy thinking about the men who were after them. _What a day_, he thought. If only they'd quietly minded their own business, then this wouldn't have been happening. Come to think of it, he'd been minding his own business from the very start but that stupid old geezer Loze had ruined everything by agreeing to let Link stay. The goddesses must hate him.

For some reason Gale was amused by that thought. All his life he had a sneaking suspicion that the high and mighty actually _did_ hate him. Not that he had too much of a problem with that, since he never once thought he wanted to be liked by them. Well, assuming they existed at all for that matter. He liked to think they did exist sometimes, though, just so he could laugh and jeer at them; he didn't know why it tickled him to no end.

Zelda parked the car on the side of the road and took a deep breath, turning the ignition off. The three got out of the car and hurriedly walked into the station, watching out for suspicious looking people. It was past noon, and the sky was beginning to turn orange. Kids were running around on their way home from school. Link made his way over to the guide booth by the ticket vendors.

"Hi, we want to get to Shinjuku as fast as possible. Can you tell us the best way?"

The ticket master nodded. "One moment please." He spoke with a thick accent and his English was broken, but it seemed their request had gotten through. After a few minutes of typing on the computer, he took out a pen and paper and passed them to Link. "Go Hachioji. Comes in five minutes," he pointed at one of the stairs farther down the station. "Then take Azusa bullet train, and then go Shinjuku."

Gale watched Link frozen with the pen. He rolled his eyes. "Give me that, you illiterate fool." Gale scribbled down the directions in his curled handwriting. "Hachioji, then Azusa, and then we're good?"

The station master confirmed.

"Yo Petrov, pay him for the tickets will you?"

The three got their tickets, and then they ran to the station to catch the local train. Once on the train, they dared themselves to breathe a sigh of relief that Dugal hadn't managed to catch up. It was an uneasy sigh, however. None of them believed that they were completely safe yet, and all of them were sure that Dugal would have something planned.

And they were completely right. Several miles away and slowly catching ground was a police car that had zipped past all of the stop signs, traffic lights, and general congestion thanks to the siren mounted on the roof. If he hadn't been annoyed by his lackey's mess-ups earlier, Dugal would have actually enjoyed the privileges that came with driving a police car. All the other cars on the streets avoided him and cleared the road before the blaring siren.

Dugal was the center of attention when he entered Sagamihara Station only twenty minutes after the three teens. He had suspicions that they would try to return to the hotel to take back their belongings, and so he'd concluded that he needed to be back in Tokyo as fast as possible. Dugal turned the sirens off and drove around the small city for a while before he parked in a secluded area. Casually stepping out of the police car, he slipped away quietly back towards the train station where he could have the cover of people. While striding at a brisk pace, he pressed the button on the device clipped to his left ear. "Answer."

There was a brief static buzz before Hawk's voice came through. "Sir. Kestrel is just about finished dealing with the police, sir. We had some trouble since he didn't take to bribery too well."

"So he was one of _those_ types, was he? Hm, I'm sure you'll figure something out. I don't care for the details as long as you figure it out."

"Yes sir. Where are you now, sir?"

"I am at the edge of Sagamihara City. I am almost positive the brats are making their way back to the hotel in Tokyo. We have an advantage since we know where to expect them, and the only problem we have now is that they will definitely arrive there before we do."

"Sir."

Dugal fiddled with his tie. "As much as I hate to do this, get in touch with the Reds. I'm sure there are some posted in greater Tokyo, and they'll be able to get near the hotel before we do. Tell them I want them searching for the brats around the hotel as well as all the train stations and bus stations in that area."

"Yes sir. I will be sure to describe them sir."

"Mmhmm. They shouldn't be too hard to find in a crowd since all three of them stick out like a sore thumb. Oh, one more thing."

"Sir?"

Dugal was standing in front of the ticket vendors at the train station. He squinted a little as he tried to get a better look at the train routes that were posted on top of the ticket machines. He slowly trailed after the train lines, and then a thin smile crept up. "Be _extra_ cautious about Shinjuku station, especially the exit with the bullet trains. I'm placing my bets that they'll approach from Hachioji, so look up the trains that leave from Hachioji to Shinjuku. When they are caught, report back to me immediately."

"Yes sir."

Dugal hung up. Reaching into his wallet, he pulled out some coins and put them in the ticket machine and then waited patiently for the lights to blink on the various buttons. Once he pressed the button, Dugal picked the ticket that was presented and walked into the station, searching for the train that would take him to Hachioji.

XXXXXXX

Zelda looked around nervously while she stood in line to buy the ticket for the Azusa bullet train. Every time she saw someone wearing a suit with a blue, red, or purple tie she felt the hairs stand on the back of her neck. She flinched when she felt a tap on her shoulder, and almost slapped Gale in reflex.

"Whoa whoa, take it easy." Gale fished around in his pockets and handed over 1200 yen to pay for the train ticket. He smirked. "There, you're all set. Now you owe me one."

Zelda looked disgusted. "You never stop, do you?"

"I'm just being a gentleman, dear," he replied happily. "You shouldn't read too much into it. What an embarrassment it'll be if you actually thought I _liked_ you." Gale snickered. "Just humor me and have some fun."

"Ugh! I don't get why you can be like that when we're in a serious situation." Zelda huffed away.

"She's right, you know." Link pushed him aside and paid for his own ticket. "You shouldn't let your guard down. Even the best are defeated when they underestimate their opponent."

"Hmph. It's not like we can do anything about our situation right now. And besides, all we're doing is waiting for our train to come and Dugal doesn't know where we are. People need to learn to relax and have fun when they can."

Link shrugged. "You know, I bet Vaati was defeated so many times because of that attitude."

"Tch. Stop comparing me with Vaati."

Once they'd bought their tickets, they went to the station terminal where their bullet train was scheduled to be docked. Lines of people were standing in marked areas along the station platform, and Link, Zelda, and Gale walked over to the reserved section. They could've chosen to buy the unreserved seats, but then they wouldn't have had guaranteed seating and Gale was adamant about sitting down. He hadn't been willing to stay standing in a train for half an hour if he could help it.

They shifted their weights and huddled in their jackets to keep warm while they waited for the train. The temperature wasn't as nearly as cold as New Jersey weather, but that wasn't to say that the greater Tokyo area wasn't chilly in the winter. Link and Zelda also appeared a little uncomfortable from the looks they gathered from the people around them. Both of them had blond hair and blue eyes, and the Japanese seemed fascinated by foreigners. Gale, on the other hand, remained unfazed by the glances. He'd grown up with those curious eyes on him his whole life, and in his opinion the Japanese were generally more bashful about staring at someone openly. This was nothing compared to what he'd had to deal with before.

When the Azusa finally rumbled into the station, the three gratefully jumped inside and followed the line of people to look for seats. The interior reminded Gale of the interior of an airplane. There were even pushcarts going around with food and drinks for passengers who wanted to buy something during the trip. Upon reaching their assigned seats, Gale swung his around so that two seats were facing each other. Link sat on one side, and Gale and Zelda sat on the other.

Gale waited for the train to lurch forward before he leaned towards Link. "All right Petrov. You promised to explain everything so you had better explain everything."

"I'd like to know as well. You are obviously hiding something important about who you are, and after what happened today I feel I have the right to know."

Link rested his head in his right hand. He took out the paper about the Avilux Ignis project, and spread it out on the chair desk that was attached to his seat. He spun it around until the page faced them, and then he tapped the name signed next to Dr. Willits'.

"I honestly don't know where to start because I feel there's so much I have to explain," Link began, not meeting their gaze. "But I guess I'll start with where this entire situation became much more dire than I'd originally thought. See this name?"

Gale twisted his head to get a better look at the name Link was pointing at. The letters were large and bold, and signed with a lot more confidence than the squished signature of the doctor. "Yeah? What about it? Do you know this guy?"

"Kind of. Read me the name."

"Ford Ganon."

"Exactly. Ford Ganon," Link repeated. He looked up at Gale slowly and he realized that something had registered in those red eyes as well. "Tweak it a little and what do you get?"

"You're out of your mind!" Gale snapped. "There's no way he's alive, he should be dead! Traitorous infidel thought he could use me like a mere pawn to take over Hyrule. Just because he has the Triforce -" he stopped, sounding puzzled. "What did I just say?"

"Ford Ganon. Ganon Ford. Ganondorf." Link smiled weakly. "You seem to know this too, Vaati."

"I am _not_ Vaati!" Gale seethed. Then, the puzzled look momentarily returned and Gale no longer seemed too sure of himself.

Link began again slowly. "Right now you're not. Vaati's probably lost in your subconscious. However, considering the time we have left and whom we're really up against, we really need you to get your memories back. And for that," Link reached over and took his left glove off of his hand, revealing an etch of a small, gold triangle, "I can't hide anything from you anymore."

* * *

Travel log:

Sagamihara City: There were a bunch of squished looking houses lined up next to each other. They were so close that neighbors would be able to crawl into each other's houses through the windows. I hear it's supposed to be a huge city, but we only went near the edge of it so it was more like a crowded suburb.

Hachioji: I have nothing interesting to say. I mean, it was a train station. If I'd actually been able to walk around then I might have had something interesting to say, but I was being chased by Dugal at the time.

* * *

fleets: I'm sorry, I always stop the chapter right when I'm about to give answers. But yes, Ganondorf. I didn't want him in this story because I'm sick and tired of him, but I couldn't find a way around it that would make sense (to me). I do have a few surprises up my sleeve, however - I try my best to make things unpredictable ;)  
Because there's one huuuuuuge plot twist I have in mind that I'm really excited of getting to. Aaaah, I'm dying over here since it's going to take a while to reach that point D:

**Midna Hytwilian: **I was thinking of putting off writing Vaati for a while, but I decided against it :P I felt it was about time he made an appearance. Lol poor Vaati, he's bullied in so many different stories XD**  
**

**Reily96: **I'm curious how you'll take care of that messed up pentagon, good luck! More Vaati/Gale craziness coming up...not so soon... but it is coming :P**  
**

**SubZeroChimera: **Oh snaps, I rely too much on crappy spell checking. Thanks for finding the error! I'll fix it when I have the chance ;)**  
**

**henslight: **Can't say much without spoiling what's coming, but no worries, I've got it planned out ;). Meanwhile, we wait for Link to get talking (and I promise I'll get to that part in the next chapter). **  
**

**Darkwind: **Dingdingding, Ganondorf indeed! I hate that guy... yet he always sneaks his way into my stories (grumbles). **  
**

**marium: **Just a little bit. Vaati's there, but it's still predominantly Gale. This'll be addressed... soonish...**  
**

**LinkxDarkLink: **Aw, thanks! I was imagining the lock to make the dinging noise the games make when you solve puzzles, but I thought that might've been a bit much haha**  
**

**Death-Note-Zelda-Kitty: **The last chapter is definitely my favorite so far just because Vaati was in it, and not as Gale. **  
**

**Dark Scrivener: **Aw, thank you so much! I'm happy you gave this story a chance and enjoyed it. :)**  
**


	15. Harajuku Makeover

fleets: I can't believe it but early-ish update!

* * *

**Chapter 14: Harajuku Makeover**

"The symbol on my hand is the Triforce of Courage," Link explained while Zelda and Gale leaned forward to take a better look. To a normal person, the gold triangle could have passed for a cheap tattoo, but both Zelda and Gale seemed to recognize it as something special. "You might have heard a little about the Triforce. There are three in all, representing Courage, Wisdom, and Power. They represent the powers of the three goddesses."

"I would never have believed it," Gale began, appearing to have difficulty forming words, "but after all that I've seen so far with Skull Kid I don't know what's unbelievable anymore."

Link moved his hand back from Gale who was just a little too close to it for comfort. There was a hungry glint in his eye. "There's a pattern in history where the three holders of the Triforce will simultaneously appear in an era under a conflict usually begun by the holder of Power. I was once part of a complicated seven-year struggle with Ganondorf, the holder of Power. I wouldn't have made it without the help of the holder of Wisdom." He noticed Zelda looking at the back of her own hands. "It was you, Zelda. Or rather, your predecessor."

Zelda shook her head. "I… I don't know what you're saying. A part of me feels that what you're saying is true, but this sounds so radical."

Gale glanced over her shoulder. "Yeah, Link. She doesn't even have that triangle you have."

Link scratched his head. "I'm not too sure of this myself, but from what Farore told me the Triforce was supposed to lie dormant for this era. The holders themselves would exist because they would be reincarnated, but the actual conflict wouldn't take place. She told me that in this era, 'the hero is no longer here.' I think this is why you can't see your Triforce, Zelda. However, this can all change with the upset that happened with Skull Kid and myself. Basically, Skull Kid and I did some unintentional time travelling to the future that screwed everything up."

Zelda looked at Link the same way Gale had done back when he'd explained who Vaati was, while Gale had his head in his hands looking miserable. Somewhere from between his palms, Gale's muffled voice groaned in exasperation, "Do you realize just how insane you sound?"

"I know it's not easy to believe me," Link agreed. "But I don't know what else to tell you. Just hear me out and pretend you believe me for now."

Zelda seemed to be thinking of something. "The story of the Triforce; I've heard it before as a children's story my father used to tell me. There were so many variations, but they were always about an evil man kidnapping a princess, and then a brave boy saving her."

"I've heard it too." Gale chipped in. "But there was also one about a one-eyed monster. Are you going to say that monsters actually existed too?" He neglected to mention he had read about this fact in the children's section of the local library in New Jersey.

A nostalgic look came over Link. "The story your father used to tell you actually happened. I was that boy who lost seven years of his life trying to save the princess from the King of Darkness. The princess's name was also Zelda, and the king's name was Ganondorf, too. Back in my time, thousands of years ago from this age, there were also stories of princesses, heroes, and evil kings; history really does repeat itself, especially those dealing with the Triforce." He turned to Gale. "Funny you should mention the one-eyed monster, by the way. That's an even older story, and the monster was always called by another title: The Sorcerer of Winds."

Gale frowned. "What? Vaati again? But I thought you said I looked like him, and I'm no one-eyed freak. Your stories aren't consistent."

"Vaati had become so power hungry that he'd abandoned humanity for it." Link shrugged. "I already explained this to you, but I don't know much about Vaati besides what Farore told me."

"And that's what _really_ makes me question your sanity – the fact that you actually think you spoke to a goddess." Gale retorted.

"Who is Vaati?" Zelda asked.

"Vaati is the Wind Mage who'd terrorized Hyrule a long time ago when he was after something called the Light Force, which is similar to the Triforce."

"And he was reincarnated too?"

Link glanced over at Gale who was listening sourly. "Apparently. Even though he doesn't have the Triforce, he managed to figure something out." Link paused. _Should I say it now? Yeah, why not. We want him to remember things now if possible._ "But Vaati screwed up."

Gale's frown deepened. "Hm?"

"Vaati's wish was to live forever so he could be god forever. He came up with a reincarnation spell that would allow him to reincarnate like the Triforce holders every time he died. What Vaati forgot to take into account was that every time he died, he would lose all of his memories of his old life and they would be buried in his subconscious just like the Triforce holders' memories. In effect, he lost all of his knowledge of his old abilities and could no longer go back to being the most powerful sorcerer alive. He had to go back to being an average person – something he would have despised being."

They were all quiet for sometime, with Link and Zelda watching Gale closely. Creases had appeared on the silver haired teen's forehead, and he was sitting tense in his seat. Minutes passed, and for a second Link thought he was going to have to deal with a very dangerous sorcerer in the train car. That is, until Gale asked skeptically, "and you think that I'm his reincarnation, do you?"

Link blinked. "Uh, yeah. I'm almost one-hundred-percent convinced you're him." _Oh well. I guess if it was that easy to get him to remember then Farore wouldn't have called it a 'curse.' _

Gale scoffed. "Why? Under what reason?"

"Your attitude for one. Vaati was described as arrogant and womanizing."

"Really…" Zelda mused.

Gale managed to look offended. "So what?! First off, that could apply to anybody. Second, why are you looking like you believe this nutcase's claims?" He rounded on Zelda who had a funny expression.

She had trouble hiding her discomfort. "Well, you _are _arrogant and womanizing. But I was also thinking more about what you were like at the staircase…"

"What staircase?" Gale demanded. He looked to Link who was nodding, and then back to Zelda who was gazing at her feet. "What staircase?" he repeated. "You mean the one back where a bunch of those suit guys blocked us? I'm pretty sure I was just like my usual… self…" he trailed off. He hesitated, and then a slightly panicked expression came over him as his eyes widened. "I… I don't remember…" he stammered, losing his cool. "Why don't I remember?"

"I don't know much about you," Zelda said quietly, "but even I could tell that you'd become a different person. You managed to take down all of those men without even touching them."

Gale's eyes were hidden by the long bangs that draped over half of his face. He sounded uncharacteristically scared. "I don't know if I want to believe you or not." His voice wavered. "On one hand, I can't help but feel excited if it really was true that I'm capable of sorcery. On the other hand, I don't like the idea that I never knew who I was. I always took comfort in knowing that there was one certainty in my life; that I knew who I was."

Zelda was slightly touched by Gale's confession. He didn't seem to be the type to share troubles, and this shed a new light on his actual character. She'd never seen him so vulnerable. Maybe she'd misjudged him a little.

"This is insane!" he lashed out defensively. Gale glared at Link who was watching him calmly. "What do you want from me? What does Vaati have to do with all of this? Why couldn't you just leave me alone?"

"I wouldn't have needed your help if I'd gotten the Ocarina of Time from Skull Kid. I missed the opportunity, and now I need a way to the Palace of Winds. The thing is, Vaati is the only person who knows how to get there." Link began to explain what Farore had told him. He explained the power of the Ocarina of Time, and the history of what had happened with the six shrine maidens and the four elements that could open the path to the palace. He told them about the flood that would come if a hero didn't appear in time to stop evil, and that the thing Avilux I was trying to revive was actually the chaotic fourth part of the Triforce that Farore had named "the Lord of the Three." With the appearance of Ganondorf, Link was sure that the spirits of the shrine maidens would trigger the flood since the hero was absent. He rationalized that it would be safer if they stopped the spirits, and then took care of Avilux Ignis and Ganondorf later. "Because," he said somewhat bitterly, "I'm the Hero of Time."

Zelda rubbed her forehead. "This is so overwhelming. But if what you say is true, then we don't have too much time."

"You're going to believe him, just like that?" Gale asked. Zelda appeared confused, her head shaking back and forth.

"I don't know. I don't know anything! But I saw what you did, I saw what Skull Kid can do, and a part of me says that this is all real no matter how unbelievable it is."

The normally cocky, confident Gale opened his mouth, closed it, and then opened it again to say something. Changing his mind, no voice came out and he slumped back down in his seat. Gale mumbled something inaudible.

"What's that?" Link prodded.

"I said," Gale glowered, "I'll… I'll help."

Now it was Link's turn to look skeptical. "Really?"

"Look, don't make this any harder than it is. Yes, I'll help. No, I'm not doing it for you or the world. I'm doing it because I want to know what the hell is going on with me, Vaati, and Avilux I. If I had any other explanation for what happened at the staircase or my weird memory lapses, I wouldn't even consider helping you." Gale brooded. "Actually, I'd like you to think we're only going to 'work together' because our goals just happen to coincide."

"All right." Link grinned. For a second he thought Gale had lost it since it wasn't like him to agree to help. This whole justification of helping was more like him.

A bell chimed and they heard an announcement in Japanese. Following afterwards was an English translation. "We are now approaching Shinjuku."

The three teens tensed. This was their stop, and none of them knew if Dugal was going to have an ambush waiting for them at the station. They had been safe in the confines of the bullet train, but now that they were about to exit anything could happen. Gathering their belongings, they filed out slowly with the rest of the crowd.

"We'll talk about this later," Link said. The others agreed.

"Stay sharp," Gale warned.

They cautiously walked with the people moving towards the exit stairs. There were so many people coming from all different directions that they were naturally swept in one direction like driftwood floating in a river. Link, Gale, and Zelda were especially wary of men in business suits, and none of them felt comfortable since there were so many of them walking around the station at this hour. It was late afternoon when many business people were coming home from work.

While they were walking, Gale noticed Zelda suddenly stiffen. He knew something was up when she swerved over to the yellow Peeps souvenir vendor and slowed down so she was next to its shadow. Gale and Link followed suit, trying not to look suspicious.

"We have a problem," she whispered sharply. The two boys pretended to go through the gift wrapped boxes while she talked. "Those guys – they're following us."

A quick glance behind them revealed one foreigner and one Japanese man leaning casually against a pillar. The Japanese man was talking quickly into his cell phone. They were both wearing red ties like the ones the Avilux I members had been wearing, and when they noticed them look at them, they began to walk in their direction with a sense of purpose.

Link spun around and started to walk away quickly. Gale and Zelda followed him.

"What are we going to do?" Gale hissed. "We can't just go to the hotel with them following us."

Link zigzagged through the evening rush. His head snapped from one sign to another, and then quickened his pace after he heard the sound of a train pulling into the station. He watched a woman go running up the steps, panting, in a hurry to catch the train. Seeing the men behind them picking up their pace as well, Link decided to run. "This way," he said sharply.

The three suddenly entered a sprint. The two men who had been behind them started to run as well, confirming the three's suspicions that they had been following them; it was evident Dugal had been planning ahead. People who were too slow to move out of their way were pushed aside. The race was on.

The train was packed with people to the point that many were squished up against the doors like sardines in a can. Link hesitated, trying to find a place to squeeze into the train. Gale, who was less worried about politeness, ran ahead and picked a train car to ride. "Hurry up!" he shouted as he forcefully pushed himself onto the car.

Zelda jumped in next, cramming right next to Gale as the other passengers grumbled about the crowdedness. She craned her neck to look for Link. "Link! The train's going to leave!"

Link made it to the door of the train car just as the sound of pressure releasing whistled from the train. His hand reached out for the doors when –

"Ugh!"

"No!" Zelda exclaimed as Link was thrown backwards. The men had managed to catch up to them and had grabbed Link by the collar. The girl took a reactionary step towards Link to help, but froze when the second man approached quickly. Link's voice helped her snap back.

"Zelda! Stay back, don't get caught!" He gasped for air as his captor dragged him backwards.

The doors slowly began to close shut, and the remaining man rushed to get through. Without missing a beat, Gale stuck his foot out and pushed him outside, careful not to trigger the pressure sensor on the doors that would cause them to open again. "Stand back," he growled. With one last forceful kick, Gale managed to hurl him onto the station platform. The door closed tightly, and the two teens watched in horror as Link was knocked unconscious with a sharp whack to the back of his head. Gale and Zelda gazed through the glass panes to see Link falling farther behind with the two men.

"Tch." Gale's face twitched. Next to him, Zelda had her cheek pressed against the window. Neither of them was aware of the uncomfortable and curious stares that were directed towards them. There was a murmur of "gaijins," foreigners, for a while before they subsided and people lost interest.

Red eyes narrowed, trying to decipher the train path that was posted on top of the doors. Gale had no idea where they were going, or how they were going to get Link back. Whether or not he really wanted to save Link was another matter all together, but he figured he was only going to get real answers on Vaati if that prick was with him. Right now, however, getting Link back wasn't their major problem.

"We are now approaching Harajuku."

Zelda looked up worriedly. "Gale," she grabbed his arm.

Gale nodded. "I know. They're probably going to expect us here too."

The train screeched to a stop, and people shuffled around to rearrange themselves. Some people pushed forward to exit the train, while others pressed farther back to let people through. Others wrestled around to nab an open seat. Gale proved to be a keen spotter when he violently pulled on Zelda's sleeve and led her out of the train. Looking back, Zelda saw why; more red-tied men who were craning their necks as though they were looking for someone were standing in line to board their train car. Ducking their heads to minimize the chance of having their conspicuous bright hair from being seen, Gale and Zelda rushed out of Harajuku station. Gale grimaced when he heard a shout.

"Oh for the love of Nayru – I hope you can run fast princess."

They ran for their lives, ignoring the people who pointed at them wondering what was going on. Behind them a group of at least five Avilux I members were running after them, some of them giving orders with a cell phone. Zelda could tell already that things were going to get worse. The two jumped over the ticket gates, surprising everyone around them, and skipped the stairs two at a time to exit out into the Harajuku district. Outside, they weaved through the narrow sidewalk next to a busy main street. Shoving people out of the way, they tried to lose their pursuers.

"We can't go on like this," Zelda gasped between breaths.

"Well, do you have better ideas?"

Zelda didn't. The only thing she could think of was to do what they were doing now – use the cover of people to hopefully confuse their pursuers. "Over here," she turned into a street on the right when she saw a suspicious looking car coming up behind them with some men who resembled the Avilux I members. The street she had turned into was one of Japan's 'pedestrian paradises,' a throughway where no cars were allowed. She could see no paradise about it, however, since the place was jam packed with window shoppers who were there to visit the little shops lining the sides.

That was when she noticed something different about Harajuku compared to other cities in Japan she'd been to. Occasionally, they ran into some people who were wearing something that could have come straight out of an anime. Their hair was colored and spiked in the most bizarre way and their clothes were almost like intricate and extremely detailed Halloween costumes. There were princess-like girls in frilly dresses walking with punks in spiked leather trench coats with platform boots. She looked behind them to see the red-tied men following them frantically, and then she started peeking at the various stores around the streets. She got an idea. "Gale, do you see that store over there, just ahead of us?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"We're going in there. Just make sure we're not seen by the guys following us."

Gale didn't ask why, since he figured from the girl's determined face that she knew what she was doing. Upon reaching the shop, they slipped through the crowd and moved inside.

"Irra-shaimase." A young girl greeted them from behind the cash register. Her hair was tied back with white ribbons into two pigtails, and she was wearing a dress that resembled the outfit of a gothic doll. Her fashion was also unusual – she was covered in laces and frills from head to toe. She giggled in a childlike manner, and Gale would have found her cute if he didn't feel like he was a pedophile around this overly cutesy, childish girl.

"Okay, now what?" Gale asked Zelda who had slid behind the store's merchandise and away from the windows. "I assume you have an idea of some sort?" He ducked his head behind a mannequin as the Avilux I men ran past the store.

"Ah! Americans?" The girl behind the register bounced. She spoke English with a slight accent. "We get many tourist here. I can speak a little English."

Out of habit, Gale hovered over to the register to chat while Zelda rummaged around the various odd fashions hanging around. "Your English is very good, actually."

"Really? I don't like my accent."

"Nonsense. Your accent's cute."

Zelda coughed in the background. "Stop fooling around. Help me pick something out."

"Pick something out? Wait, since when are we shopping?" Gale blinked. He reached over and picked out a long, feathery purple jacket from a hangar. Then, he looked around at the other more fantastic merchandise. "I never would have thought you were interested in this sort of thing, dearie."

Zelda, looking annoyed, popped up from behind some racks. "You noticed how much we stand out, right? Especially with our light hair?"

Gale arched his brows. "And you think these clothes will make us stand out even _less_?"

"Did you see how some of the people out there dressed? If we can look like them, then we might be able to slip by because we'll be just Harajuku style teenagers. Remember, they'll be looking for two foreigners; a girl with long blond hair and a guy with white hair wearing a plain hoodie."

"Oh." Gale didn't seem to be buying into the idea so well. He turned to the Lolita girl. "Hey, what kind of people buys these kinds of clothes?"

The girl grinned. "You don't know? This is Takeshita Street. One of the more popular places in Harajuku for shopping. People come here to buy Gothic Lolita, visual kei, and punk clothes." Going into another of her girlish giggles, she pointed at the jacket Gale was still holding. "That visual kei jacket goes well with your hair."

Gale took another look at the jacket he was holding. It was as long as his knees, and it was a dark purple color with a black collar. Two gold chains were clipped to the front, and dark feathers lined some of the edges. _Looks kinda cool_, he thought. What he said instead was, "This is ridiculous."

Zelda peeked back around, carrying a few handfuls of different clothes. She went up to the girl by the register, pushing Gale aside. "I have a favor I want to ask. In return, I promise to buy a few merchandise from your store and maybe a little extra for your help."

Lolita girl perked up. "Ara? How may I help?"

"Both of us want a complete Harajuku makeover as quickly as possible. Can you help us find something? Everything from shoes to headpieces, please."

"Hai! Of course! You look like you like cute and pink, so would you like Lolita style? Like what I'm wearing?" The girl was quick to abandon her post at the register. She had customers now who wanted a complete set! These foreigners were a lot better than the usual customers who only came to look, or bought only one or two small items.

Zelda took off her pink fleece jacket and tossed it over in a corner. "No. I want something completely different."

"Then you might like cross between punk and Lolita. Both edgy and cute."

In an instant, Gale found himself very much alone holding a ridiculous jacket while the two girls moved further into the shop to look for things. He found the price tag and turned it over in his hands, and the number of zeroes he saw made him sweat. Gale gave a small shout over to the girls. "Hey, we're not really buying stuff here, are we? Are you saying you can afford this stuff?"

"Of course we are. It's all right. I'm willing to pay for our 'disguises.'" Zelda replied, picking out a black headband with a seagull feather and walking off towards the dressing room with Lolita girl. "By the way, Megumi is going to help you next so have something in mind."

"Huh?" Gale asked. "Megumi?" He watched the two disappear from view. He awkwardly walked around the store for a little bit, not feeling comfortable in looking at clothes he would never touch under normal circumstances. After several minutes, however, he began to casually flip through the clothes while still pretending to look disinterested. Gale glanced from side to side, and then picked up an expensive looking gold belt with a red gem in the middle, a spiked collar, and a black vest. "I'm just curious, I'm not actually going to wear any of this stuff," he said aloud to no one in particular. Before long, he was going through things he thought matched together, and taking note of some photos of Harajuku people that were posted on the walls. Gale would never admit he was actually really into this kind of thing.

XXXXXXX

Half an hour later, Gale and Zelda were trying their outfits that Megumi, the girl at the register, had arranged for them. Zelda was wearing a tight fitting blue and black top with hot pink highlights, with pink edged white fur on the sleeves. A high collared, grey ninja style cloth with blue symbols draped over her shoulders and covered half of her face. For a touch of Lolita style, she wore a black and pink frilled skirt, striped high socks, and thick-bottomed knee-high boots.

"Aaaw, you're so kakko-kawaii, Zelda-san!" Megumi said as Zelda spun in front of the mirror. "Cute and cool. Gale-san is cho-kakkoii. Super cool."

Gale grumbled, straightening out wrinkles in his jacket. Gale was purple, black, and gold in color. He had stuck with the long jacket he'd had earlier, as well as the gold spiked collar, black vest, and the jeweled belt. He also had a white cloth wrapped across the bridge of his nose – he had no idea what it was for but he'd been told it would add to the visual kei culture. Also, since Gale had insisted on keeping his purple and black DC skate shoes, Megumi had forced him to pick out buckled fashion leg warmers to put over them. "Leg warmers on guys? Ugh."

"It's not too bad looking, Gale. I mean, look at some of those visual kei posters – you look kinda like them," Zelda said, taking the headband she'd picked earlier and replacing it with the pink one she'd had on. She tossed her long yellow hair and frowned. "There's something off about what I'm wearing."

"Then maybe you want makeup. Wait a second and I'll find something." Lolita girl walked off with a small skip. "I will let you use my things." When she came back, Zelda had taken out her color contacts and had tried one on.

Zelda had her nose nearly touching the mirror, taking a look at her new blood-red eyes that could compete with Gale's. "Hmm, a little better but something's still not right."

Megumi set her makeup box down and began to line up various eyeliners, face paint, and eye shadow. "Colored contact was nice touch." She turned to Gale who was subtly angling himself in the mirror to find the best stance. "Gale-san has red eyes. Do you wear contact too?"

Gale whirled around, secretly enjoying the fact his jacket swirled around like a cape. "No. They're natural."

"Ah! Then Gale-san is natural for crazy Harajuku style."

Gale shrugged. "I suppose…" He stepped aside when Zelda strode over to the bathroom with a pair of scissors. He heard her say something about 'it's way too long.' A tap on his arm made him take his attention away from Zelda. Megumi was waving a tube in front of his face.

"Ah, look! I have some hair dye that would go with Gale-san's outfit. Since your hair is very white, it won't take long to do. Would you like to try?"

"Dye? My hair? I rather like it this way," Gale said, not too keen about someone touching his hair. He had pride in its shiny silky smoothness.

"It is temporary."

"I would rather not."

"Can we try a little? I will wash it out if you don't like it."

"No means no, sweetheart."

"I don't know, Gale. I think you should try." Zelda had returned, clipping the scissors in her hand. Gale and Megumi's jaw's dropped.

"Waaa! Zelda-san your hair!"

"Din's fire YOUR HAIR!"

Zelda tossed the scissors onto the make-up box, and then shook out strands of hair out of her head. Her long flowing gold hair had been roughly and crudely chopped right off at neck-level, so that she now sported a tomboyish look. Gale looked, and then looked again, trying to get used to this new Zelda instead of the old super feminine one.

"Are you mad?"

Zelda grinned. "I was just about getting tired of long hair anyway." She posed satisfactorily in front of the mirror. "It gets in the way of running, and it takes forever to wash. I also figured the Avilux I guys will have more trouble recognizing me."

Gale hung his head. "You cut your hair…"

"And?"

"It… it looks nice," he said weakly, still in shock from the unexpected.

"Good." Zelda picked up the tube of hair dye from Megumi. "Hmm, I think a light streak of color across your bangs might do the trick. That's not too bad, right?"

"We are not coloring my hair."

"If I could do this to my own hair then you should be able to stand a little bit of temporary hair dye!"

Gale gulped. Right now it was two against one for dying his hair. He could run outside and get to the station on his own, but the problem was he had two very determined girls standing in his way. Forcing them out of the way wasn't an option since he had a strong policy of being a gentleman to attractive ladies. He was a womanizing player, but that didn't mean he wasn't polite about it. _Sometimes I hate my stupid policies._ "Fine," he muttered.

"Fantastic. Oh, Megumi, can you help us with makeup later?"

"Of course! This is fun."

"Thank you so much."

Gale's face twitched. "I'm putting makeup on too?"

"Yes you are. It's not really visual kei without makeup."

Gale groaned. _I can't believe I'm allowing this to happen._

XXXXXXX

Dugal stepped out of the taxi and stretched. The Reds had caught one of the teens at Shinjuku station, just as he'd expected, and had taken him to one of the parking garages in the large department stores. The garages were dark with a lot of cover, so no one would notice a teenager tied up in the backseat of a car. Dugal walked into the garage and took the elevator down to the lowest level. He took out his cell phone and dialed.

"Hello, this is Dugal speaking." A broken voice answered, and Dugal strained to hear. "White minivan? Sorry, the reception isn't too good; I can't hear you very well. Ah, don't worry, I'll find you." Hanging up, he strolled around the parking garage. A few minutes later, he was met with a Red who led him towards a white minivan in the corner of the garage. His partner was waiting for them by the van. Upon opening the door, he saw Link bound immobile in the backseat. The blond was breathing slowly in a peaceful rhythm.

"We've sedated him. He'll be out for another half an hour before he wakes up sir."

Dugal jumped into the car, taking a better look at the unconscious Link. "Where are the other two?" he asked mildly.

"We've lost them at Harajuku sir. We're still looking for them."

"Hmph. Well at least you managed to catch one of them. It's better than what my men were able to do, those idiots." Dugal reached into his pockets and rummaged around for something. "You two wouldn't want to be a replacement for Talon Three by any chance?"

"Uhh… sir?" The two men exchanged glances uncertainly.

"Haha! I was only kidding." Dugal laughed. He took out a small jar with a bunch of square electronic chips inside, each one with a thin antenna threading out of it. He gently took one out with a set of tweezers. "Micro tracking devices," he explained. "It's fairly recent technology, and was created for the purpose of tracking migrating insects over long distances. They're surprisingly useful. Do either of you have a knife by any chance?"

"Will this do?"

"That's wonderful." Dugal took the pocketknife that was handed to him. "I also need a first aid kit."

One of the men went to the back of the car and opened the trunk. He brought the kit back to Dugal who had turned Link over on his back so he could expose the back of his neck. Taking the kit, Dugal took a cotton swab and dabbed some alcohol before rubbing it down on the unconscious teen's neck. Next, he took the electronic chip he'd picked out earlier and pinched it so that a small green light blinked on once before going out. He waited a few minutes for the alcohol to dry, and then made a clean cut on Link's neck right by the shoulder blade.

"Just so you know, this procedure is completely harmless," Dugal said cheerfully to the two men who were watching nervously behind him. "Directly harmless. Its indirect hazards usually involve being placed in uncomfortable and occasionally frightening situations by yours truly."

Taking the chip, he inserted it carefully in the cut and threaded the wire through. After everything was done, the chip and antenna were hardly visible and looked more like a dark mole or birthmark. Dugal dabbed excess blood away from the area and waited for the blood to clot over so the scab would hide the chip even more. While waiting, he brought his hand to his ear and buzzed his three cohorts with his handless device.

"Sir?"

"Sir!"

"Sir."

Three voices answered.

"Report."

"This is Kestrel. We've managed to lose the police and we are all in your car heading towards Tokyo."

"Good, good. Go to Shinjuku, I'll speak with you by the hotel. But before that, can one of you look under the back seat of the car? There should be a business bag."

Hawk's voice answered. "Found it, sir. What did you need?"

"Look inside. There should be a laptop. Open it, and log on to the main user network, not my personal one."

"Done."

Dugal paced idly back and forth across the parking garage. The other two men backed away to a safe corner; neither of them really felt comfortable around this man.

"All right. Open the dnetArgos program and get it running. Once it's set up, tell me what you see."

There was a short pause as Hawk worked to follow instructions. Finally, he said, "There's a transmission from Shibuya, Tokyo."

Condor's voice interrupted. "You placed a tracker on someone, sir?"

Dugal smiled amiably. "I did. The Reds here managed to catch Mr. Petrov. I still need to find the other two, however, so we'll release him and let him lead us to his friends."

"How can we be sure they'll come back for him?"

"Do not doubt me, Condor. I've already thought of that. I'm going to retrieve the remaining two's passports from their hotel rooms and give it to Mr. Petrov for safekeeping. They will _have_ to reunite if they wish to leave the country."

"Will they be able to find each other? Tokyo is a massive place."

"That," Dugal said, somewhat running out of patience, "is why we made sure to give them cell phones."

"Ah. Sorry sir."

"Never mind. I believe that is all. Oh, Kestrel? You're not driving are you?"

"No sir. Condor is, sir."

"All right. I want you to ring up the Reds over here. Let them know that they are not to bother Mr. Petrov or his friends until I say so. If they _do_ manage to find Mr. Engst and Ms. Sterling, tell them to keep a close watch and report back to me."

"Yes sir."

Once he was done talking, Dugal snapped his fingers and called the nervous Reds over. He stepped into the van and pushed Link to the side so that he was no longer lying face down on the backseat. Then, he sat next to him and Made sure he was sitting upright with his seatbelt on. "All right boys," Dugal grinned. "Let's take Mr. Petrov somewhere isolated near the hotel. Do you have any ideas?"

"Uhh," the two men hesitated, fearful of giving the wrong answer. Dugal was cheery compared to the boss, but that didn't make him any less dangerous. They were spared to answer when Dugal came to an idea on his own.

"Let's see, ah! How about that park right next to the hotel? It's large enough, and there's even a shrine. Considering it's getting dark out," he waved his hand towards the purple colored sky, "we'll have an easier time slipping him past curious people."

"Umm, so we're going to Shinjuku Chuo Park?"

"Good lord, be more assertive! Yes, we're going to Shinjuku Chuo Park." Dugal tapped the side of his armrest merrily. "When we arrive, set him down somewhere where he wouldn't be bothered. In the meantime, I'll go to the hotel and find their passports. Keep a watch on him, and if anyone tries to rob him teach the fool a lesson. We will be his guardians for a short while." He laughed, finding irony in the statement. The other two didn't laugh, however, from sheer uneasiness. They didn't know how the ones in Talon Three could tolerate being with this guy without constantly fearing for their wellbeing.

It seemed the rumors that went around the underground about Dugal were true. He was good at completing tasks given. In fact, it was said he had never screwed up before and those he went after could never escape. He was the king amongst his raptors – like 'Condor,' 'Hawk,' and 'Kestrel,' it was said his nickname was the Helmaroc King.

They pitied the three teens for having fate set them up against such an impossible opponent.

* * *

Travel Log:

Shinjuku Station - One of the larger stations in Tokyo, this is one confusing train station. There are so many turns that exit out into different station platforms, and the sheer number of people walking about doesn't make anything easier. Everything about this place is white - it's like they thought using white would make the underground station brighter or something. Ugh, it's too claustrophobic for me. There's souvenir vendor here selling a snack called "Tokyo Banana": apparently it's Tokyo's famed food, but I also hear it's not very good.

Harajuku/Takeshita Street - It's really only crazy out here on the weekends; that's when all the crazy fashions start popping up everywhere. Takeshita street is popular for teenagers who are looking to shop for the unusual items associated with Harajuku fashion. It reminds me of the shopping streets in an amusement park since only pedestrians are allowed to walk this street.

* * *

fleets: Calling the red-tied folk the Reds has really been bugging me since it reminds me so much of Communism and makes this whole thing sound almost political. Also, couldn't help sticking that Helmaroc reference in there - it doesn't really mean much. I mean, Dugal's not actually Helmaroc (but it kinda sorta fits considering he's currently Ganondorf's best henchman). I still see more parallels with Dethl and Dugal, but since purple-tie guy is beginning to write his own character as this story progresses, he'll (hopefully) turn into someone completely unique.  
One last quip before I shut up: Google map satellite view of Takeshita street and Harajuku helped me sooooo much when I was writing this. I feel like such a dork but I actually followed Gale and Zelda's running path to make sure it made sense in the scene.

**Midna Hytwilian:** I'm sorry your life hasn't been too great. :(  
But Rrrrrr, Ganondorf managed to sneak in when I didn't even want him too! I'm beginning to think the same thing happened to Nintendo too.

**Purplegc: **Cliffies are torturous. I think I was dying from leaving it at the cliffie so I somehow managed to write an earlier update.**  
**

**Ephriokko: **Aws, thank you! I'm enjoying writing it too - I'll definitely stick with this one to the end :)**  
**

**i-wish-a7x: **I need to thank her (hey Midna Hytwilian! Thanks!); I'm happy you like it so far. I wasn't too sure about writing a modern Zelda at first because I was afraid it would lose the Zeldaverse feel, but I'm starting to really have fun writing it. This chapter was written with some intention of making Zelda less annoying (for me at least) because she didn't have too much of a personality earlier. Thank you for the review :)**  
**

**SubZeroChimera: **Whoohoo, grammatically approved :) Aaah, Vaati's return. I so so so want to get there I'm pulling my teeth in anticipation.**  
**

**LinkxDarkLink: **Thinking of WW and Ocarina, I see Zelda as a bit of a tomboy. So yeah, Sheik was definitely on my mind with the racing thing :)**  
**

**henslight: **I can't wait to write the plot twist! You'll definitely know when I get there (...I think. Actually, I'm not sure haha). Ah, this Ganondorf is different; I'm going under the premise that the three Triforce holders have been reincarnated (so new Zelda, new Ganondorf, and Link... well, that's a complication that has not been addressed yet). I can totally understand how you want them safe, but not. I feel the same (and probably why I keep causing trouble for them). XD**  
**

**marium: **I know right?! How did he sneak his way into this story too?! (bangs head). Zelda's not such a girlie in distress this time :P**  
**


	16. An Unfair Game of Hide and Seek

fleets:

DISCLAIMER: this should have been done last chapter but I forgot - I do not own the concept of the Fourth Triforce Piece. I don't know who came up with it first because I've seen different variations everywhere, but I'm not the first person to mention it. The only concept about it that's mine is the birdie.

Ugh. I return again after clearing up some very depressing moments. Before I never speak of this ever again, I would like to say one last time: don't consider throwing away your own life. Just don't even think about it, or I will be very mad at you. It does not exist on the answer key, okay? Not only does it affect family and people you were close to, but it also affects more people than you can possibly comprehend, even people you didn't even know all that well or knew at all. Consider the 6 degrees of separation principle. Yeah. The impact you create on other people just ripples outward everywhere.  
And the excuse "I can't handle it" or "There's nothing worth living for" is the dumbest excuse ever, because you _can_ handle it with the help of people who care about you. Don't give me that crap of not having people who care, because there's someone out there who does. Even in the hypothetical future there will be a person who'll care.

Don't be stupid. Stupid is not cool.

And that's the end of my rant for all you naughty boys and girls who've dared to think of coming up with a vanishing act.

* * *

**Chapter 15: An Unfair Game of Hide and Seek**

"Ready?"

Zelda nodded. Gale, in his visual kei outfit, cautiously pressed his hand against the glass door and looked outside. Night was setting in, and only a sliver of afternoon orange brightened the streets. He noticed a few suited men prowling about, with some of them walking into stores. They had to leave now, or they were going to be in danger of being caught. Taking a deep breath, Gale put pressure on the door and stepped outside with Zelda following closely.

Megumi's voice trailed after them in a girly giggly fit. "Arigatou gozaimashita!" Thank you!

Zelda smiled back, shifting the large bag the girl had given them that contained all of their previous clothes and a photograph of the two of them. Megumi had wanted a picture of the two gaijins in Harajuku wear. Turning back, she looked for Gale who had already strode on ahead through the crowd, careful to stay as far away as possible from anyone who was wearing a black suit. She was surprised by the change in Gale; instead of the grumbling, unenthusiastic teen who had complained about the outfits, Gale was completely playing his part.

He walked like he owned the place.

Zelda jogged after him, slightly bothered by how light her head felt without her hair. It felt so weird not having long hair to brush away from her shoulders. It also felt weird and uncomfortable to not have long hair to hide behind when she was blushing.

She hated it. She hated the fact that she was blushing because of a womanizing asshat who treated her like all of those other guys who just wanted to take advantage of her. She didn't even like him!

Still… Zelda had to admit that when Gale really wanted to, he could make any stonehearted girl melt. In his flamboyant attire, Gale was surprisingly handsome with his head angled in the right amount of cocky coolness. It was all about the confidence, Zelda supposed, and she'd noticed earlier that he had enough charisma to be able to convince people that he _must_ be great because he thought he was great. He looked different from the womanizing idiot she'd seen him as earlier.

_No! I won't let him win!_ Zelda violently shook her head. It was all that adrenaline. It had to be. Research had shown that people were more likely to be attracted to other people when they were placed in situations where blood adrenaline concentration increased. The increased heart rate and breathing were easily mistaken for signs of attraction – she was just being fooled. Why else would she even admit Gale actually looked really good in that stoic, suave way? She hated him and his attitude towards women, treating them like they were his toys.

Her breath stopped when she felt an arm wrap around her waist. Gale pushed her towards a group of otakus holding cameras and conveniently away from a red-tied man creeping around behind them. She tried not to look at him when he winked devilishly, "Some fans want our photos, princess."

In her confused state of mind, all she could do was mutter uncharacteristically. "You're having too much fun with this."

Gale smirked. "What's that? And here I thought you were the one who was all into playing into the Harajuku disguise. You can only succeed if you set your mind to it."

"Yes but that doesn't mean you need to…"

…_have fun with it. No, that sounds stupid. Maybe, "That doesn't mean you have to be so light hearted…" ugh but that's like telling someone to be gloomy. _

" – need to… to…" she struggled to justify herself, and then gave up, "we're in a serious situation, don't forget that."

A slightly surprised look came over Gale, and then he stared at Zelda accusingly. When she turned away, obviously upset, his devilish grin became a little more evil. "Ahhh, I see how it is."

"What?" she snapped. She didn't have to fake an intense expression for the camera thanks to her mood. The otakus cheered at her fierce look, thinking she was totally into her character.

Gale just chuckled darkly, his grin becoming wider. "Mmm, nothing." This only made Zelda more upset – she wanted to brick him. The silver haired teen bowed at the otakus who'd taken pictures, and strutted away like royalty. He was so into his part that even the red ties that had wandered over to them to see what was up passed over him for being a local Harajuku guy.

They made their way back out of Takeshita Street as casually as possible, and quickened their pace once they were on their way back towards Harajuku station. Zelda felt uneasy every time they were stopped by some tourists for pictures because she was becoming paranoid they were Avilux members. She frowned at her reflection in the store windows, and she had to admit Megumi had lined up quite a look for her and Gale.

Right by the station entrance, Gale grabbed her by the hand and pulled her close – so close she could feel his breath on her skin. Zelda felt extremely angry that her knees had gone weak.

"What is the meaning of this," she hissed.

Gale ignored how she was upset. "Be ready. They're starting to get suspicious."

Zelda glanced behind her, and sure enough, a few smart Reds had caught on and were keeping an eye on them. She could feel her entire face becoming hot from embarrassment. First, she'd assumed something. Second, her general unhappiness and fretting had made her less aware of her surroundings. Third, she hated the fact Gale was slowly gaining power over her in his little game. Fourth, Gale's sly smiles showed he knew he was winning, and he didn't miss an opportunity to gloat about it. How could she not feel ashamed?

Zelda missed Link. A lot. At least with him around those two would just jabber by themselves.

The two tensed when the men in red ties took a step towards them. Gale and Zelda were about to ready themselves for another exhausting and stressful escape, but the men abruptly stopped when a colleague shouted to them. He was speaking to someone on the phone and was relaying information to the group.

Gale and Zelda stood stiff, their minds quickly calculating what they should do. Finally, Zelda whispered, "They're going away."

It had happened so suddenly that it felt incredibly fishy. One moment the Reds had moved to close in on them, and then had disappeared the next. It had to have something to do with the phone call, and Zelda had a bad feeling it had everything to do with Dugal.

"Let's go." She stepped through the ticket gates and into the station uncertainly. Gale followed, equally disquieted.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Link groaned. He felt terrible.

_What happened?_

He rubbed the back of his head and winced. There was a small bump there from where he'd been hit heavily when he'd been caught.

_Oh yeah. That happened._

Link snapped up in panic, remembering how he'd been separated from the other two and had been caught by Avilux I. His head darting from side to side, he expected to be locked up in some sort of jail cell or dungeon. Instead, he found himself propped against a tree in a park somewhere. The woodchips and grass under his legs prickled where he sat. There was no sign of Avilux I anywhere.

_Huh?_

Link's quick breathing slowed as he gradually relaxed. What was going on? Didn't they catch him, and weren't they trying to kill him earlier? What had happened to the other two?

He winced again, this time noticing he'd been scratching the back of his neck. There was the tingle of an annoying itch, and from the occasional sharp pains that came with scratching it he concluded there was a scab there. He forced himself to stop, knowing that peeling the scab would cause the wound to bleed again. From the size of the affected area, it was apparent that the cut was a large one. He must have gotten it when the two men had knocked him unconscious. They had, after all, provided him with a bit of a struggle.

The sky was already dark, but the surrounding city lights hid the stars. Even at night Tokyo was bustling with people, and there was almost just as much activity during this hour as there was during the day. The city noises drifted into the park that created no noise of its own.

Link carefully stood up with some difficulty. His legs were weak, and his arms were slow to react. His thoughts were slow and muddled.

Another wave of panic set in. _I must have been sedated!_

He started to shuffle around in his pockets. This drowsiness he felt was not from being beat down unconscious but from being drugged. But for what, and why? How long had he been out for?

Link froze when his hands found some foreign objects inside his coat pockets. He took them out guardedly, and was surprised to see they were all of their passports.

_What? How did they get here?_

A feeling of dread: that must mean that Dugal and his men had already been to the hotel. _Did something happen to Zelda and Gale?_

A slip of paper fell out from between the three passports. Link reached down and picked it up; it was a note.

_Mr. Petrov: _

_There has been some sort of misunderstanding with Avilux I internal affairs. A small group of extremists within our company are currently causing problems, and we are doing our best to sort things out and have them fired. The men who have dealt you harm have been caught and are awaiting punishment. _

_It is unfortunate that I cannot explain this to you in person as I hear you are already back in Tokyo and have left Mt. Omuro. No amount of apologies can make up for what has happened, and I will be sure to arrange compensation for your experiences here. When you return to your hotel rooms, please check that nothing has been stolen from you since my men have found your passports on your attackers. We have returned them to your possession._

_Please tell Ms. Sterling that we will contact her again when these affairs are sorted. We understand if she is no longer interested in the position, but if she is, we will be happy to oblige another interview in the spring. _

_In the meanwhile, please call me and we will exchange your plane tickets for first class so you may have a comfortable trip home._

_My many sincere apologies,_

_Halstead Dugal  
Avilux I Chief Executive Consultant_

Link crumpled up the note and stuck it in his pocket again. "Lying snake," he said aloud, and frowned at the passports. He couldn't understand the kind of nerve Dugal had to pretend like he had nothing to do with this whole thing. Sure, Dugal could say that he hadn't actively participated in chasing them around the Mt. Omuro facility, and it was true that they hadn't gotten a super clear view of who the driver was in the car chasing them, but at the same time it was so obvious Dugal had been chasing them the whole time. Maybe in court Dugal would be able to weasel out of things and blame everything on all the red tied men and his driver, Condor, who they'd encountered at the stairwell, but Link knew Dugal was behind this whole thing.

Link grumbled. _Knowing Dugal, he might even start telling people he had tried to protect us from the guys chasing us when he'd pulled out his gun at the facility…_

Dugal was here, in Tokyo, and was pulling all the strings. Link felt extremely uncomfortable knowing that he had been caught and released like bait fish.

_He's planning something. He's definitely planning something and I don't like it. _

But what? What benefit was there in catching him and then letting him go like nothing had happened? A chill came over him as he realized something.

_What if they'd caught Zelda and Gale, and for some reason didn't need me anymore for whatever they were planning to do? I need to find out where they are!_

A sweat drop rolled down his forehead even though the night air was pretty chilly. _How, how do I contact them?_

His hand felt a small, palm-sized object in his pocket. Link perked up. _That's it! His cell phone!_

Link started to dial Zelda's number, and held his breath as the phone let off a faint ringing noise. _Please, please be okay. _

XXXXXXXXX

"Sir, he's calling the girl."

"Perfect. I love it when things go the way I plan them to." Dugal drawled lazily, sprawled across his hotel bed with his shoes on and flicking the TV channels every two minutes. "Connect me on their line. We _did_ specifically set up their phones so we could do a little eavesdropping, so I might as well."

"You do like eavesdropping, sir."

"Kestrel, any information you know about someone is an advantage." He turned off the TV and took out his cell phone, punching in the numbers orated by Kestrel in the other line. "Be ready for further orders soon. When will you reach Tokyo?"

"In twenty minutes sir."

"Then I will see you shortly."

XXXXXXXXX

"All right. Let's discuss this before we go any farther," Gale said when they stopped walking in front of the police station near the hotel. At least here, they knew Avilux I wouldn't try anything rash since they were too close to the police. "Do you think it's a good idea to just walk into our hotel rooms?"

Zelda shook her head. "No, I think that's too risky. They know our room numbers, and given the time they might have already set up an ambush."

"Hmm. This is problematic."

The two became quiet for some time, each one going over different scenarios in entering and leaving the hotel safely. After some time, Gale pondered, "A crowd would be our best cover."

Zelda agreed. "I was thinking the same thing. We should go during a time when there're more people, so it'll be better to wait until daytime tomorrow."

"I suppose we can crash somewhere around the police station."

"Maybe. I wanted to avoid that but I think we might not have any other choice."

"Assuming we do go to the hotel tomorrow, bringing a porter along might be a good idea too. Even if there's a crowd at the lobby, if they catch us alone in the elevator or something we're done for."

Zelda slumped against the wall. "This is so risky." A few minutes passed. "Hey Gale?"

The boy tilted his head in acknowledgement.

"What do you suppose happened to Link?"

"Petrov?" Gale shrugged, making as though he weren't too worried. Zelda, however, could see that the issue was troubling Gale more than he would care to admit. After all, they hadn't heard back from him for a couple of hours, and the last they'd seen him he had been dragged away by Avilux I. "He'll be fine."

Zelda hung her head. "But…"

"Don't worry about it," he reassured with a sour smile. "Something tells me that blond nuisance won't be taken down so easily."

Zelda looked at him sharply. Something about Gale was off again in the way he spoke. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, his head facing skywards in bitter nostalgia. "You two have a history?" she asked, choosing her words carefully.

Gale, or rather Vaati as Zelda guessed, scoffed indignantly. "Hmph. One that has gone on way too long for my liking." Cold, cruel eyes gazed into hers. "He always finds a way to give me trouble. _Always_."

Zelda was frozen in place. The change had been so unexpected and sudden. They stood like that for what seemed like forever, and the pause was broken when Vaati was the first to blink. It was more like a twitch. "What are you staring at?"

"Huh?" Zelda stammered. Was this Vaati or was this Gale? "I, um, nothing. You spaced out."

The red-eyed teen scratched his chin. "I guess. I wasn't really thinking about what I was doing."

Zelda sighed inwardly. Gale was Gale again. Still, it unnerved her in that both Vaati and Gale were so similar it was hard to tell when one switched into the other. She wondered why Gale was flipping back and forth between his alter ego much more often than when she'd first met him, and she wondered if his outburst at the stairwell had anything to do with the frequency. That, and also the fact that this Vaati seemed to know Link pretty well; having Link around might have allowed this personality to surface more readily.

She didn't like it. Whenever Vaati appeared she felt so chilled by the mercilessness the teen had in his eyes. Gale was very similar to Vaati, yes, but he didn't have that sheer aura of extreme resentment and cruelty. Zelda wondered what Vaati had experienced differently from Gale to make him so cold.

Her train of thought was broken when a low ringing noise came from somewhere within the bag she was carrying. "Someone's calling," she observed. Placing the bag down, she rummaged around her previous clothes she had stuffed into the bag until she found the source of the noise. The little blue phone Dugal had lent them was vibrating softly as it rang.

"Who is it?" Gale demanded. Zelda bit her lip.

"It's Link." They both watched the phone ring earnestly. Zelda sighed. "It could be a trap."

"I was thinking of that," Gale agreed. Then, he took the phone out of Zelda's hands. "At the same time, if we approach this thinking it's a trap, we should be fine." Before Zelda could protest, Gale had flipped open the phone. Link's slightly panicked voice called out from the other end of the line.

"Zelda? Zelda, are you there? This is Link! Please answer me."

"…Where the hell are you?"

"Zel – huh? You're not… who is this? Gale? Is that you?"

At this point, neither of them noticed a momentary period of suspicious static in the background. They couldn't know someone had tapped into their phone for some eavesdropping.

"Yeah. So where are you?"

"What happened to Zelda? I called her phone. Is she all right?"

"Relax. She's fine. Calm down and just say where you are."

Link paused. "I… don't really know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?" Gale quickly waved Zelda away, reassuring her Link was fine.

"Well, I woke up and I found myself in a park of some sort, somewhere."

"What happened to the Avilux I guys?"

"They're gone. I don't know what happened. I just have a goddess awful headache and all of our passports."

Gale blanched. "Passports? What? Why do you have them on you?"

"They were in my pocket, along with a note from Dugal."

"Din."

"He wrote me this BS story about how it was all a misunderstanding and that he ordered the guys who'd caught me to be stopped. He claims his men found the passports in their possession, but I don't know how much of that I believe."

The silver top took a deep breath. "You know this is probably a trap, right?"

"…Probably."

"But at the same time we have no choice but to meet you somewhere since you have the passports."

"I guess."

"This sucks, you know that? Damn. We need to get out of Japan as fast as possible, away from Dugal. Once we figure out where you are, we'll grab a taxi and then we can get our asses over to Narita to fly out of this country."

Somewhere a few blocks down from Gale and Zelda in the upper luxury floors of Hilton Tokyo, Dugal smirked to himself. This was all so easy. Well, not that he'd expected a few kids like them to be any match for him. "Checkmate, kids. Once you get together we'll pick you up all at once." He was about to turn the TV back on, but Link's next words made him stop and listen in on the conversation more closely.

"Wait, Gale. We can't leave Japan just yet."

"What? Why?"

For the first time, Dugal looked puzzled and thrown off his game. _What? Why indeed._ Curious, he sat up.

"We need to stop Skull Kid and Avilux Ignis."

_Ah, so they found out about that, did they?_ Dugal was impressed. _I can see why Boss Ganon doesn't like them very much._

"For that we need you to regain your memories as Vaati. I have an idea to make that happen, if you'll just bear with me a little longer."

Gale didn't answer for some time. Then, "What if I refuse?"

"Then everything you've ever known will probably be sunk underwater. New Jersey is on the coast after all."

"This is crazy."

"What are you afraid of? Gale, don't you realize Vaati is also a part of your identity? If you're afraid of losing yourself then you shouldn't be, because he's just as much you as you are him."

"How do you know that anyway?"

"Because the reason why you've never found direction in your life is because you _are_ missing a part of your identity."

Another moment of silence confirmed that there was some truth to what Link was saying. Link continued, unaware that Dugal was listening in with new fascination.

"Work with me for just a little longer. Didn't you say you wanted to know more about Vaati?"

Link was relieved when Gale finally muttered dejectedly, "How do you suppose you're going to go about 'getting my memories back?'"

"It's an idea I'm not completely sure would work, but I have a feeling it will. I'll give you the details when we meet up again because it'll take a while to explain, but do you remember the sword Dr. Willits was talking about in the Sea of Trees?"

"What about it? You're not saying we're going to go look for that, are you? Even they couldn't find it. For all we know it's a myth."

"That is _exactly_ what we're going to do. If I'm right, then that forest is the Lost Woods back from my age and the sword is the Master Sword. Dr. Willits couldn't find it because only certain people can find the right way to the Temple of Time. Skull Kid and I are one of the few who can take the right turns through the trees."

"Well aren't you special."

"Anyways, I'll call you back once I figure out where I am, and we'll decide where to meet up."

"Fine."

"See you lat – "

"Wait." Gale stopped Link. "Next time you give a call, try to use the public phones, just in case. These phones were given to us by Dugal, and he might have done something to them. I should've realized this earlier."

Dugal laughed out loud in the hotel room. _Interesting. You're a lot smarter than I gave you credit for, not that it'll make a difference. I can still listen to your conversations as long as one of the phones you use is the phone I gave you._

"All right."

"See ya, and watch your back."

Dugal waited for the phones to click off before he disconnected his own line. His expression was brighter than it had been earlier; instead of a semi-bored, self-confident smile he now had one of excited enthusiasm. He rubbed his hands together.

_What a strange group of kids_. They seemed to know more about zerons than they let on, and the things they had been talking about had been unusual. What was this talk about "my age," and "Lost Woods?" Also, what was that whole thing about the coasts being sunk underwater? Weird. And the blond also seemed to know about the sword that Dr. Willits had been crazily searching for at one point. They had the key to understanding the nature of these near magical objects. They had the potential to be profitable. Dugal drummed his fingers thoughtfully. _Hmmm. _

A short buzz came from the earpiece that he used solely to communicate with the members of Talon Three. Slightly annoyed by the interruption, he answered. "Yes, what is it?"

"This is Kestrel, sir. We've arrived at Shinjuku."

Dugal checked his watch. "How close are you to the hotel?"

"We're just outside it sir."

"Then hurry and get up here. I'm inside the hotel. The brats are probably walking around Shinjuku at the moment and I don't want them to see you. Check the tracker – where's Mr. Petrov?"

"He's moving out of the park, sir."

"Right. Hurry on up, and tell the Reds the whole thing is off. They are to forget everything that has happened because Talon Three will handle things from here on out."

"Yes sir."

"Sir, this is Condor sir. What are you planning?"

_Condor and his questions…_ "We're not going to catch the three rats just yet. They're going to lead us to something potentially useful."

"But the boss, sir? Didn't he want us to get rid of them as soon as possible?"

Dugal was a little miffed. He'd suspected his employer kept him from having too much freedom by telling some of his men information Dugal felt they didn't need to know. Dugal knew that Condor was loyal to him first and foremost, but that didn't mean he wouldn't start questioning him if he started to deviate from Mr. Ganon's original orders. _Condor, you're bright and useful but a little troublesome._ "We're going to do things a little differently, Condor, and if Mr. Ganon doesn't know then he shouldn't have problems with it. That's why we are going to call off the Reds."

He dismissed his team, and then waited. Forget about Ganon and his orders of getting rid of the three as fast as possible; this was too good to pass up. He wasn't going to let him know about it, of course, since this was going to be his own personal investigation. If he felt this would be worthwhile in letting his employer know, then he would tell him when all was done. After all, if Ganon stepped in he might ruin his fun.

Dugal hadn't had this much fun in a while – not since that assignment that ended with going after a member of his own team. When Talon Three had once been Talon Four. Actually, that hadn't been fun at all after some time. It had been so messy, with so much drama and all that not-so-fun stuff. The only reason why it had seemed fun was because he'd had an opponent that forced him to be meticulous with the mind games - and the only reason why his opponent had been so troublesome was because Dugal had been against his own former team member, Harrier. _Harrier. What a mistake._ He wondered how that troublemaker was faring right now.

_Hmph. What a coincidence,_ Dugal thought as something struck him. The teens had mentioned the Sea of Trees, which could only mean the Aokigahara Jukai that Dr. Willits had been obsessing about a few years ago. That had also been the place where _that_ had happened with Harrier. And that incident had also been one of the reasons why the search for the sword had been discontinued.

_And it all loops back again. What an odd thing Fate is._

Straightening out his tie, he went back to lounging and watching the local news. There wasn't anything interesting on. He looked out the window. Somewhere out there were three teens who had no idea they had already lost his little game the moment it had begun. While they sweated anxiously about his next move, Dugal could laze around and watch the tracking signal pinpoint where they were in the world. He could pick them up whenever it was convenient to do so. For now, he would let the puppies go fetch.

XXXXXXXXX

Link, Gale, and Zelda decided to meet up in front of the police station once they had found out, to their surprise, that Link was not very far away. He had realized that the hotel was just down the street, and that he only had to walk a few blocks to reach the police station. The station sounded the safest place from Dugal and his lackeys, even though none of them really felt safe anywhere at this point. The only consolation they had was that Tokyo was bright as day even during the night.

Link and two figures stared awkwardly at each other for several minutes in front of the police station. The two who were standing in front of them were very similar to Gale and Zelda, but were wearing ridiculous clothes. Besides, he didn't remember Zelda having boyish hair or red eyes…

And that guy. Who did he think he was, wearing maroon eye shadow? Was he a drag queen of some sort?

"You look stoned, Petrov." The guy with a purple streak of hair and a feathery coat scrunched his nose. The way he looked at him disdainfully – who else could it be but Gale?

"Gale… it really is you. Then that means – "

"Hey Link. Don't recognize me, do you?"

"Holy Farore, it really is you. What happened to your hair?"

Zelda's tiny smile was hidden behind the white cloth that covered her face. "We had a little fun disguising ourselves." She ignored Gale muttering at that comment. "The colored contacts are starting to get annoying though, so I'll probably go back to blue eyes soon." She noticed Link having a weird look on his face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He sounded out of it. Link reassured them both that nothing was wrong, but he couldn't stop thinking about how disconcerting it was to see how history liked to repeat itself. Zelda and her Harajuku disguise – it reminded him so much of way back when, during the times the Zelda he knew had disguised herself. _Shiek, _he thought sadly.

"So they let you go, just like that. No one has followed you here?" Gale asked, on his guard. Link looked over his shoulder and shook his head.

"Not that I know of. Oh, here's the note from Dugal and your passports, by the way." Link handed them over to the surprised two. "I was also wondering if you'd been caught by Dugal's group and had somehow bribed them into letting me go."

"Hah, like I'd actually do that. Ow," Gale rubbed his arm where Zelda had hit him, a scornful look on her face. He leaned over to look at the note she had in her hands. "Geez, this sounds reeeaaaaally fishy though."

Zelda nodded. "We probably shouldn't stay the night at the hotel. They could have something unpleasant ready for us. We should find the least expensive place to stay around here and I'll help pay for expenses."

"First Harajuku and now this. You seem to just make money appear out of thin air," Gale observed.

Zelda shot him a look, making it obvious she didn't like the subject. All she said was, "we have a family inheritance that has kept going thanks to interest." Gale didn't push the issue. The girl crossed her arms. "So Link, what's your plan? I heard from Gale that you think staying in Japan will lead to a solution to this whole flooding, and or Avilux Ignis disaster."

"I hope so," Link replied. He smiled a little, thinking about how progressively weirder this whole situation was becoming. Upon seeing Zelda and Gale watching him, wondering what he thought was so funny, Link explained, "Sorry, I was just thinking about how unbelievable this is becoming." He tried to keep a straight face. "We're going to the Sea of Trees to look for a magical sword that would hopefully reawaken the Sorcerer of Winds, and then we're going to the Palace of Winds to stop the shrine maidens from flooding the world."

"So _now_ you think this is crazy too?" Gale's face cracked into a slanted grin. "About time you agreed with me."

Zelda started to laugh as well. "So just when you'd convinced us to play along with your crazy stories, you're starting to think this is unbelievable?"

"Well you have to admit this is getting complicated."

"No kidding. But we're off to save the world, so it's bound to be complicated," Gale said with a sarcastic smile. "All we have to do is level up enough before we beat the boss, right Link?"

Within a few minutes, all three of them were clutching their stomachs and laughing about their situation. It was a tired sort of laugh, one that comes from relief after being saved from a stressful situation. Gasping for breath, they couldn't stop the giggles that came from the magnitude of the problems they had taken up to solve. The laughter died down to the occasional fit of snickering, which then turned to shoulders silently shaking as each tried to calm down. Gale was the first to recover.

"Seriously though, I don't know what to think any more."

Link grinned mischievously. "You've said that so many times; maybe you should just stop thinking."

"Considering you are the example of what would happen if I stopped thinking, I'd rather avoid that."

"Oh please. I'm much better off than a guy whose vanity is as high as his view of the world is low."

"Since when have I acted vain?"

"Are you going to tell me you haven't checked yourself out in the reflection of that window every two minutes?"

"I'm making sure I don't look like a fool in this outfit."

"I rest my case."

Zelda stifled laughter. "All right you two. Let's go find a place to stay before Dugal does something."

The nervous tension had temporarily disappeared with their reunion. Although their day had been stressful from being chased by a shady company, the three teens had finally managed to bring back some of their light-heartedness. Perhaps it was a psychological defense mechanism – when one is placed in such a bizarre situation, sometimes the only thing a person can do is laugh about it.

Because things were only going to get more bizarre.

* * *

Travel Log:

Shinjuku Chuo Park - I personally didn't go here, but according to Link it's a little oasis in this huge, busy metropolis. The park itself is located right next to Hilton Tokyo, and the main part is the small shrine where you can throw coins and make a wish. I know a bunch of Japan enthusiasts are going to complain to me about comparing the shrine to something like a wishing fountain...

* * *

fleets: The next few chapters - ohmygoshness I can't wait to write it! Just thinking about it makes this chapter SO boring (because this one's more of a lead up to it than anything). Uh, all righty I'll stop talking because you guys have no idea what I'm talking about. I'll try to get a semi-quick update for the next one. No promises, but we'll see.

**Midna Hytwilian:** Vaati - Can I come back now?  
fleets - No.  
Vaati - (sigh)  
fleets - Gale, Vaati, what's the difference?  
Vaati - Let's see, as Gale I don't know who I am, Link knows more than me and therefore I'm always clueless, I can't blow things up, I -  
fleets - Point taken! Yeesh, you'll come back soon enough and you'll have the spotlight.

**Ephriokko: **Nope, not yet - Link still has it XP  
Those three are not in a good position.**  
**

**Astral S. Kepeire: **Wowww. First off, thank you for the review - I think that's one of the longest that I've ever gotten :DD  
I'm getting so impatient to let Vaati come back. Those little Vaati moments keep me happy (and they're small bonuses for Vaati fans too) :)  
**  
**

**henslight: **Nope, I wanted to stay away from maiden in distress (since I think Zelda has the ability to take care of herself). And you're right - the story would have ended if Link got caught and couldn't escape, so if he hadn't been released I'd have let him found a way to do so on his own :P**  
**

**Reily96: **I'm not going to lie - your comment that Gale and Zelda were indeed alone affected the beginning of this chapter XD**  
**

**Trickster's Imagination: **Ah, well, Dugal's not reaaally Helmaroc - I just wanted to throw that reference in there (because he is really sneaky and if I personified Helmaroc he'd probably be less sneaky and more flashy/explosive). Personality-wise I'd say he's a combo of Dethl from my other story and maaaybe a slight Helmy. He's really taken on a character of his own though :)**  
**

**marium: **The one on dA will be explained soonish :) I can't say much here, but if you figure it out it won't be too bad of a spoiler (that's why I thought it'd be ok to post it on dA). Well, that and I also didn't expect anyone to guess correctly :P As for their ages, let's see, Gale and Link is 16 (Link is a mystery, but they assume he's around 16, or maybe even 17). Zelda is also 16, but she skipped two grades to attend the local college. **  
**

**jioplip: **There used to be days when I'd update every day, but those were also days when my writing sucked a little more and I had less school to deal with. Thinking back on my update speed back then makes me feel like a slow old person lol.  
Yeah, I was creeped out by Dugal too! I'm still his numbah one fan, but he sometimes makes me back away slowly (or quickly, running in the opposite direction).  
Thank you! :)**  
**

**LinkxDarkLink: **This stands completely on its own from Beyond Centuries (I feel that anything more relating to that would exhaust it). So the goddesses despise Vaati, he's still plotting for a takeover, he hasn't learned any lessons, and his name is still associated with bad things. And of course I won't kill you, don't be silly :)**  
**

**Darkwind: **Me too! Japan is not Japan without Harajuku. Sometimes I think I'm having too much fun writing about the real-life places in this story... well, the next one's kinda creepy since it's Aokigahara. **  
**

**Temyx Mew Mew Haerts: **Gale is Vaati; he just doesn't know (or want to admit) that yet. It's tricky though, since you can argue Gale is a different person since he's had different life experiences as "Gale" and not as "Vaati," with all the knowledge of the Minish Cap and everything. Gale's a reincarnation of Vaati according to a spell Vaati screwed up on - Vaati just forgot about the fine-print stuff about how his reincarnations wouldn't remember anything about their past existances. Silly Vaati. It's open for interpretation. I personally take them as "same yet different."  
The Zelda question will pop up later in the story. So far, we only know for sure that Link has it. (think of it as the triforce lying dormant for this specific era).  
Yup! The spirits are the maidens that appeared in Four Swords Adventures.  
And Avilux Ignis is just a random name that I made up using a bunch of Latin words and smushing them together into something phonetically acceptable. Avi = bird, Lux = light, Ignis = fire. :) It's not to be confused with the company Avilux I, which the "I" is the roman numeral 1.

**i-wish-a7x: **Still haven't found the chip, but now Dugal's playing a new game XD **  
**

**Purplegc: **The chip was pretty "ick" for me to write, and even though I'm a huge fan of Dugal he creeped me out right there. I've a feeling he'll be even less liked as the story progresses - why I like my villains is a mystery I still don't know the answer to. Thank you!**  
**

**Dark Scrivener: **It's amazing what google satellite can help you do - half of these places I haven't even been to but I can kinda guess what it's like from "walking around" on the map lol. Like Harajuku and Hilton Tokyo. And I hear stories. Gosh, it must be so much more in real life than what I've heard though! Thanks!  
Gale - ...(all right I admit I like it)**  
**


	17. A Vanished Hero: Rumors of the Gold Wolf

fleets: HURRAH early update! You have no idea how much I wanted to get to this chapter. XD

* * *

**Chapter 16: A Vanished Hero – Rumors of the Gold Wolf**

The trio had managed to find a modest place to stay some blocks away from the train station. It had taken some time, but after some pantomiming for a taxi driver they had managed to get the driver to take them some place to spend the night.

Currently, they were sitting tiredly inside the cabin of yet another train that was headed for the village of Fujikawaguchiko. It was nine fifteen – they had left early in the morning because none of them felt comfortable sticking around in Tokyo where Dugal was lurking. They felt antsy about the fact that nothing had happened last night, since all of them had expected Dugal to do something. Zelda and Gale had ditched their Harajuku outfits; Gale had returned to his old hoodie, while Zelda had quickly bought a cheap pair of jeans because she'd felt a skirt would be inappropriate for adventuring.

They had already travelled for an hour on the Azusa bullet train back towards the direction they had been running away from. It made little sense to Gale to approach the Avilux I facility, but unfortunately the forest they needed to go to was located in that general direction. They only needed an hour more of travel on this cutesy yellow train to reach their destination.

His stomach growled.

"It might be a good idea to eat a little more," Link said, looking up from the box lunch he had bought earlier in the other train. He picked up a piece of sesame fish with a pair of chopsticks that he was using surprisingly well. Zelda, sitting next to him, appeared to be struggling with hers as she tried to pick up a piece of something that looked like a type of seaweed. Gale made a face.

"That stuff looks gross."

Link shrugged. "When you're out on the road you learn to be less picky. I've eaten stuff worse than this when I was out trying to stop Ganon before."

"This doesn't taste that bad either," Zelda pitched in. "Though I agree it does look pretty nasty."

"I tell you I'm fine! Besides, it's not like I'm not eating anything." To demonstrate, Gale defiantly munched on the end of a chocolate Pockey stick. Link raised his eyebrows at the multiple boxes of Pockey that was piled in the empty seat next to Gale.

"Is that seriously going to be your breakfast?"

"It tastes a heck of a lot better than the stuff you're eating."

"…You are such a child."

Gale glared. If he hated to be compared to anything it was a little kid. However, he didn't let his temper fly and instead scoffed, "I simply refuse to eat something so unrefined as… what is that… a fish head."

The minutes went by as the train chugged onwards. The city buildings had all but disappeared and had been replaced by rice paddies in farming communities. Occasionally the train would be flooded in darkness as it went through a tunnel under a mountain, and all they would hear would be the train's rhythmic clunking. At last, they reached their destination. At ten o'clock, the sky was a crisp blue and the lakeside winter breeze was nippy. The three walked out of the train station slowly, enjoying the nice day but at the same time wondering what they were going to do next.

The thin layer of snow on the ground made slushing noises as they walked. Link stopped a person on the street and asked for directions to Aokigahara, to which he got a strange look. The other person didn't say why because his English was limited, but was able to direct them to the bus stop. Each time Link asked a passerby about the forest, the same weird expression was returned. Link cocked his head. "Hmm, I wonder why people act funny when I mention Aokigahara."

Gale stepped after Zelda onto the bus that had arrived. "Maybe because that's a forest people generally avoid. Don't you remember what that doctor said about it? People disappear in there."

"Perhaps we should stop asking around about it to avoid appearing suspicious," Zelda said.

The bus took them farther away from the main town area and into a quieter community. There was less traffic, and the main road narrowed as they entered a more rural place. Instead of commercial buildings, the roads became lined with small houses instead, and the scenery became more beautiful; the village was a scenic tourist area.

"Wow, look at that." Zelda pointed at the towering mountain that loomed just above the lake they were driving by. It was monstrous and majestic, and everything became insignificant in its shadow. It was Mt. Fuji – the iconic mountain of Japan. The Sea of Trees was supposedly located right at the base of the humongous mountain. The bus's intercom pinged, signaling the approach of a bus stop.

"Shuuten desu. Arigatou gozaimashita." The English translation followed soon after. "This is the last stop. Thank you."

The other passengers stood up even as the bus was still moving to prepare getting off. The trio followed the small crowd, and they took a moment to view the scenery in awe. Neither Zelda nor Gale had seen anything like the view of the mountain back from where they had come from, and even Link, who had done his share of travelling during his last quest, was stricken by how it loomed over everything. After a moment of appreciating their surroundings, Gale stretched out his arms in front of him to loosen them up. "All right. Now what?"

Link turned to face him. "Ah, we're going to have to – " he trailed off.

"What is it?" Zelda asked, and then noticed the group of kids, who had been playing in the sidewalk, running up to them.

Zelda and Gale stepped to the side, eyes wide, when the kids pushed towards the surprised blond boy. Link looked like he didn't know what to do when the kids started yammering at him in rapid Japanese, and one boy who looked to be around eleven jumped and tackled him happily.

"Uhh, haha, sorry I don't know Japanese," Link laughed, trying to figure out what was going on. The kids paused when he spoke, and then went back to laughing and tugging. They occasionally pointed and said "koitsu," and "gaijin dana!" which Zelda recognized as "this guy," and "such a foreigner!" They said it endearingly, which seemed to make them know Link in one way or another, but that was strange since there was no way Link had been in this part of Japan before. Well, unless he was hiding other things, but from his expression Link appeared confused as well. After a while, one of the kids shouted loudly while waving his phone around, and the group gathered around to look at the time on the display screen. Then, just as soon as they had come, they ran off laughing and screaming, occasionally waving goodbye to Link before they disappeared around the corner.

Gale coughed. "That was weird."

"Yeah…" Link brushed himself off.

Zelda tilted her head. "I've heard of foreigners being really popular in Japan, but those kids acted like they know you, Link."

"Yeah." Gale agreed. "And I'm pretty sure this was my non-Japanese ears picking up random phrases, but I swear I heard them saying 'gold wolf.' Probably not what they were really saying though."

"Gold wolf?" Link scrunched his brows. Before he could say anything more, he was interrupted yet again. This time, however, the shove on his shoulder wasn't very friendly and Link automatically brought his guard up. Turning around, he was confronted by a group of Japanese who were a little older than they were. They were a group of six, and from the looks of it they were part of a gang. They walked with an unruly swagger and the guy at the front of the small group flicked his cigarette off to the side.

"Heh." The guy exuded the smell of cigarette smoke, and his black hair was spiked in the current popular Asian fashion. He said something to his comrades and they laughed in a way that didn't sound too nice. Gale and Zelda took an unconscious step back away from Link when the gang group rounded on him. "Sonna kakko de moddotte kurunante ii shinkei shite iruna, gold wolf." (You've got a lot of nerve coming back looking like that, gold wolf.)

Link stood his ground. "Gold wolf?" he repeated his question from earlier when he picked up the English words between the Japanese.

"Ha? Koitsu tobokete yagaru." (Ha? This guy's playing dumb.) Smokey spat on the ground. He took a tired sigh, and the trio was surprised when he switched to a slightly accented English. "What, you're too good to speak Japanese now? Found yourself some gaijin friends, it seems."

Link was taken aback. "Do I know you? I'm pretty sure you have the wrong person."

"What? Man, just talking to you gets on my nerves." Smoker sounded irritated. "That gold blond hair, dark green trench coat, those annoying blue eyes; you're that stuck up little twit who thought he could go around parading as this village's 'hero.' Are you still going to deny it, gold wolf?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know who the gold wolf is, and I don't know who you're talking about."

There was a brief commotion within the gang with Link's comment, and Smoker cracked his knuckles. "Like I said, you've got some nerve coming back here dressed like the gold wolf again. The gold wolf wasn't supposed to come back." He popped his fists together. "I'll give you one chance. We'll forgive you if you dye your hair back to black, and get rid of that outfit. The gold wolf is dead, and he stays dead you understand me?"

Link blinked. Gale noticed him shift his stance slightly and knew that fists were going to fly. "I honestly don't know what you're talking about."

"Konoyaro-! That's it, you little shit! Get him!"

The small gang rushed forwards towards Link. Zelda hopped out of the way with a worried look, but Gale had a nasty smile. He'd had first hand experience of Link's fighting abilities, and he knew those thugs weren't going to expect what was coming for them. He watched Link sidestep out of the various punches being thrown, and snickered when the group members injured themselves by hitting the wrong target. When the gang was temporarily disoriented from injuring each other, Link did a quick roll through and knocked out Smoker from behind. Cracking his knuckles, Link tossed the dead weight of the unconscious guy over to the remaining five. "Next?"

One of the members, a tomboyish girl, ran forward and hitched Smoker on her back. "Let's go," she told the others. The rest glanced at their limp leader, and then Link. When Gale laughed maliciously at their reaction, they decided it would be best to retreat. While running away, one of them turned around and gave one last sour call.

"Don't think this is over! When Harrier finds out, you're done for. He'll come after you, Link Petrov!"

The gang disappeared around the corner, and once again the three were left alone. All three of them wore a stricken expression.

"He knew your name," Zelda whispered.

Link just nodded, not being able to find his voice. Gale narrowed his eyes.

"Link, are you sure you've never been here before?"

"I… I'm pretty certain." Link stammered. "I'm really confused. I could believe they were mistaking me for someone else, but they knew my name."

"What about Harrier? Should we be worried about him?" Zelda asked.

"I can probably handle him, whoever he is. I'm curious about the story behind this gold wolf, though."

"We are NOT going to get sidetracked," Gale said flatly. He began to walk down the road that led towards Mt. Fuji. "Aokigahara is at the base of that mountain," he waved in the direction of the looming mountain, "which means there's a long walk ahead of us unless we grab a taxi. Since your problems have nothing to do with me, and since I don't freaking care about you, we are not going to waste time figuring out why people around here seem to know you. Start walking."

Zelda and Link looked after the white haired teen stomping off away from them. Zelda bit her lip. "I've been meaning to ask this for a while but, you two aren't friends, are you?"

Link shrugged. "Not really. It's more of a forced alliance."

"Just checking."

"Mm."

With that, the other two followed Gale in the direction of their destination.

XXXXXXX

Right around that time, a teenager was lazily stepping out of the Seven-Eleven convenience store in Fujikawaguchiko. His hair was jet black, and he wore a black skullcap with the logo of the company "Detona" with the picture of a bomb. His one hand was stuffed in the pocket of his black denim trench coat, while his other was carrying a bottle of water he'd bought at the store. He looked suspiciously like Link, and even had eyes blue enough to rival the blond's. He sulked off with his shoulders hunched over.

The other people on the sidewalk avoided him when he walked by, slightly frightened by him. Some dared to glance over their backs to see where the gloomy teen was heading, but most chose to hurry away. The teen pretended to ignore them, with his cold eyes staring straight ahead with a sort of desolate emptiness.

A group of kids no older than ten were rendezvousing some feet away in a snow-covered playground. Right as the teen was about to pass them, they became eerily quiet when all chatter disappeared. One of them gave a shout.

"Wolf!"

The teen stopped. He hadn't heard that name in a while. It brought back bad memories, and his eyes narrowed slightly. Without saying anything, he turned his head slowly towards the group of kids.

The boy who'd called out hesitated. Then, plucking up courage, he spoke in Japanese. "Nene, wolf mata modotte kitan janaino? Nande mata kaminoke ga kuroino?" (Hey, wolf, I thought you came back? Why is your hair black again?)

The black haired teen scowled. "Wolf wa shinda. Modotte kuruwake naidaro?" (Wolf is dead. There's no way he's coming back, alright?)

"Demo…" (But…)

"Hanashi wa soredake ka? Omaera nanka to shabbettetara kibun ga warukunaruze." (Is that all? Talking to you makes me annoyed.) He turned his heel and was about to leave when the boy gave another shout, undeterred by the harsh comments.

"Demo sakki wolf wo mitandayo! Kinpatsu de, mukashi mitaini warratteitayo! Nande wolf wa kienakya ikenakattano?" (But we saw wolf earlier! He had gold hair, and he was smiling, just like the old days! Why did wolf have to disappear?)

The black haired teen grit his teeth. "Uruse-! Gaki wa damattero!" (Shut your trap! Shut up you brats!) The kids ducked behind the monkey bars at his outburst. Then, the teen took a deep breath and looked down his nose at them coolly. "Wolf wo mita to iu youna uso wa, omoshiroku naizo." (Saying wolf came back; lies like that aren't funny.)

A different boy stepped forward bravely. "Uso janai! Bokutachi mitanda! Sakki gold wolf wa acchi de aruite itayo!" (It's not a lie! We saw him! Just a while ago the gold wolf was walking down the street over there!) He looked worried when the dark teen glared at them. "Honto datte ba…" (It's true…)

The teen took a step forward, his fists clenched. "Dareka wolf no mane wo shite iru to iu no ka?" (Are you saying there's an imposter wolf?)

The kids exchanged glances, and after some minutes of hurried whispering they came to a conclusion that yes, they had indeed seen the gold wolf. "Un. Bokutachi minna mitandayo." (Yeah. We all saw him.)

"Souka." (I see.) The black haired teen whipped around. "…Doko de mita?" (…Where did you see him?)

"Bus-tei no atari de, shiroi kami no nii-chan to kiiroi kami no ne-chan to hanashite itayo." (He was talking to a white haired guy and yellow haired girl by the bus stop.)

"Bakana yatsume. Omoishirasete yaru." (The idiot. I'll make him see his mistake.) He sneered. "Wolf wo nanoru yatsu wa orega yurusan." (Those who call themselves wolf will have to deal with me first.)

With that, the cold teen stalked off in the direction of the bus stop the kids had pointed him towards. The kids watched him leave until he disappeared from sight before they deserted the playground. None of them wanted to stick around lest the teen returned unhappy. Some of them chattered to each other, wondering who had been pretending to be the gold wolf earlier. They could have sworn he had returned, but now they began to think that they had seen a fake. The gold wolf wasn't going to come back. The black haired teen had said so.

Some time ago, the people of Fujikawaguchiko had liked the dark haired teen. He'd been especially popular with the kids, since he had always been friendly and would sometimes play with them and buy them small things from the street-side shops. The only trouble he'd caused was when he'd taught the local kids how to use a slingshot, and the parents had complained about the kids shooting things everywhere. Some time ago, the dark haired teen had been a caring, warm person.

Now he was callous and cold. No one really knew what had happened, but something had changed and the only smile he ever showed was a bitter one. The kids who had once liked him now feared him.

His nickname had once been the gold wolf.

Now they gave him a new name; the dark wolf.

* * *

Travel Log:

Fujikawaguchiko - The place looks like it came right out of a postcard. The most impressive thing in this place is Mt. Fuji. Dear Din it takes up the entire landscape and demands attention. It's one huge mountain. I can't stress that enough, and you'll only get what I mean until you actually see it in real life. The village itself is a little boring. It's nothing compared to the city, and hardly any of the buildings are taller than three stories (compare that with all the twenty floored skyscrapers in Tokyo and you'll understand why this place seems pathetically boring). Also, there's snow here! No, I'm not talking about the two centimeters of snow over at Tokyo; here, they get the real stuff. Well, I guess it still doesn't compare to the snow in New Jersey though.

* * *

fleets: Whoa boy. I hope I know what I'm getting myself into because this is getting more complicated haha. I didn't name the dude in the last segment, but I should think it's fairly obvious. And for those of you who were puzzled by my earlier devArt submission, I hope this chapter made it slightly less puzzling :P

Also as you've no doubt noticed, there's Japanese in this chapter. A lot of it was also Japanese you wouldn't want to use if you wanted to make friends, so I wouldn't suggest using them on people you like lol. The direct translation of it to English was difficult. I tried my best, but I had to change a few phrases because some of the direct translations sounded funny.

**Midna Hytwilian:** Sorry to hear that! Hmm, we'll never know, but it was probably both Vaati and Gale lol. Whoa, what language is that? Looks neat!

**jioplip: **Harrier - we don't know much about him do we? The stalfos speculations seem to be popping up; it's the Lost Woods we're talking about here after all ;)**  
**

**Shadow Blues: **Haha, I'm the same, don't worry (looks sheepishly at the stories that have been read but not reviewed yet). Gale and Zelda haven't noticed Link's scab because of two reasons: 1.) Link's coat has a high neck, so it's harder to see 2.) The chip is very small since it was initially made for migratory insects. Dugal did a good job hiding it.  
It won't be fair if the good guys always had their way lol**  
**

**Reily96: **Yes, yes he is. At the same time, I don't think Ganon would be very surprised if he found out.**  
**

**henslight: **The Vaati and Gale dilemma is coming soonish (I think). We'll see :) As for the suicide rant... I'd just gone through a bad time with a suicide experience. Not someone I knew directly, but it affected me all the same in a way I didn't think could happen... I'm fine now. I just wanted to emphasize its stupidity though :)**  
**

**marium: **Yes... the last person on earth I would think would call it quits ended it all a few months ago. It was stupid, and I don't want anyone to ever experience suicide in any scope. Ever. Ahhh the Lost Woods! I can't wait to get to that chapter since it's been mentioned for such a long time. Hopefully I'll get there soonish!**  
**

**Darkwind: **Psycho/villain/jerk characters are my favorite! Somehow they seem more real than hero roles. I don't know why though, since I don't know anyone who's absolutely evil (not personally, anyway).**  
**

**i-wish-a7x: **Same here with Gale - I started off wanting to erase him completely with Vaati, but now I'm not so sure. Once you write about a character long enough that seems impossible to do. Getting to that part should be... interesting. Lol, Dugal is turning way creepier than I had originally intended to. I think I like him better this way (though I'm sure people would disagree). Wow, thank you for the kind review! :D**  
**

**Temyx Mew Mew Haerts: **Hmhmhm, not much info about what Dugal's up to in this chapter. We'll see. But yes, it _is _the Lost Woods for a reason and there're those rumors on Aokigahara. Yep, Zelda looks like Sheik (she ditched her colored contacts though, since they were bugging her eyes. They were red for the duration of the Harajuku scene though). Actually, the police probably wouldn't see anything wrong with Harajuku-ites in that area. Shibuya is very close to Harajuku itself, and the fashion isn't actually "cosplay" but very eye-popping fashion statements. They're not treated so differently from people wearing a nice dress for going out (okay, maybe a little differently since they stand out more, but not too much). You can occasionally see Harajuku fashion in subways in places other than Harajuku, although the frequency of sighting crazy fashion decreases. :)

At worst, the police would probably have seen them as wild teens.


	18. Trapped by Fate: The Real Link Petrov

fleets: O.o holy molies. This is the longest I've ever written for any single chapter, and also I updated in less than a month. That never happens anymore... I'm guessing the reason for my writing drive for this is because this chapter is one of the most important chapters so far. A lot of crap happens here - don't get lost. :)

* * *

**Chapter 17: Trapped by Fate – The Real Link Petrov**

Some time later, Link, Gale, and Zelda were still walking on the narrow road that wound around the lake and towards the mountain. There was no way they could reach it in a day, but at the same time they had had no luck in catching a taxi. Gale, who had been reluctant to ask for help, had insisted they would be able to find a cab sooner or later earlier during their trek. Now, however, he was grudgingly admitting that it would be a good idea to ask for the best place to catch a cab with the next person they ran into. Unfortunately for them, they hadn't run into a single soul for some time.

"Aaagh, and here I thought Japan had people swarming everywhere," Gale grumbled.

They continued to walk at a steady pace. They stopped to catch a break right by an empty construction site where they were building a new house. The trio sat by some metal rods that were stacked in a pile to take a rest. Zelda rested her chin on her hands.

"We should have thought this through a little better before we walked off the main road."

"Yeah," Link agreed, taking a not-so subtle glance at Gale.

The red-eyed teen glowered in return. "Look, we'll ask the next person we meet about finding a taxi, ok? It can't be that hard." He huffed and settled down in his seat on top of a concrete block. His pointed ears pricked at the sound of someone approaching. "Someone's coming."

Link stood up. "Here, I'll try asking." The teen brushed himself off and waited for the approaching person to appear around the corner of the street.

When he walked into view, all three of them stopped breathing in shock. Link had to take a startled step back when he saw who the stranger was.

He looked exactly like Link, with the exception of his jet-black hair and small silver piercing on his left eyebrow. Even the clothes he wore were the darker version of Link's outfit, down to the fingerless gloves. The other boy, who had his shoulders hunched, straightened up and stopped in his tracks abruptly upon seeing Link. His icy gaze narrowed and there was a sharp intake of breath. The stranger muttered under his breath. "Koitsu ka…" (So it's this guy…)

"_Two_ Links?" Gale exclaimed.

"They could be twins," Zelda agreed, open mouthed in surprise.

The black haired Link shook the hair out of his face and crouched. "Kakugoshiroyo, konoyaro." (Prepare yourself, punk).

Link, not understanding what his doppelganger was saying in Japanese, stuttered, "Who are you?" He didn't have time to stand and wait for an answer, however, because his darker twin lunged at him with an explosively quick strike.

"Nani?!" (What?!) Link's attacker lost his balance when the blond managed to dodge the fist. Link brought his knee up to hit his gut, but his opponent had skidded out of the way before he could do anything. Both of them paused, trying to analyze each other. The darker Link clenched his fists.

"Omae…" (You…) He got a better look at Link's expression, and then shook his head. "You don't understand Japanese?" He switched over to a language all three of them knew. Link perked up and nodded. The darker Link smirked a little. "Hmf. I don't know who you are, but you have to be the first person who's ever managed to dodge my fist like that." He dug his heel into the ground a little more. "Even so, you're still a fake of the real gold wolf. I'll show you what happens to those who think pretending to be the gold wolf is fun and games."

"Wait! Let me explain – " Link began, but was cut off short by a fist that was aimed towards his face. He managed to tilt his head towards the right at the last minute, and his body unconsciously mirrored his opponent's.

_Wham!_

The combined force of the two momentums knocked both of them back. Neither of them had taken a direct hit, but even the slight graze had disoriented them. They steadied themselves on their hands and knees, and slowly stood up again shakily. The darker Link groaned. "That's impossible."

Mirroring each other to the point it was almost comical, the two Links wiped the blood off their mouth in the same fashion.

"That's it, now you're really starting to piss me off," the darker Link snarled.

Likewise, Link looked just as angry. "Would you just calm down and _listen to me?!_" He watched the black-haired teen jump towards the metal rods and pick one up. "I suppose that's a 'no.'"

"You'd better apologize now before you get hurt," the darker Link said with a nasty sneer.

Gale took the moment to hop towards the pile of metal rods used for construction. He picked one up and weighed it in his hands, and then tossed one over to Link. "Hey, catch." Link caught it, and faced his opponent who was now scowling. They both braced themselves, each holding the metal rods like swords.

Zelda shook Gale by the shoulders. "What are you thinking? Someone might die!"

"Well then, there will just be one less Link in the world," Gale said with a self-satisfied grin.

In one swift movement, both of them swung their rods towards each other. The metal clanged when the rods collided, and they each noted in surprise that they were both left handed; that meant neither of them had the left-handed advantage.

The darker Link became increasingly frustrated as time passed with no hits on his opponent. Both of them could read each other's movements, and every single attack was blocked. Their styles were uncannily similar as well, and he could swear that if he didn't know any better he was fighting himself. An uneasy feeling began to creep through his head – was it true that somehow, the gold wolf, the name he had abandoned some years ago, had reappeared? _That's ridiculous! I was the gold wolf! Who the frick is this guy?_ Gritting his teeth, he shifted the rod behind him to ready another swing. _All right, let's see how you handle this._ His eyes locked onto the imposter wolf's, and he smirked.

"Spin attack!"

He was not prepared for what happened next. He hadn't noticed the blond had been in the same exact stance as well, and the two rapidly spinning figures collided and bounced harmlessly off of each other. They skidded a few feet away, and they shook their hands from the vibrating rods. The darker Link was beginning to look nervous, and his previously confident sneer cracked.

"That's not… that's not possible."

Link lowered his weapon. "Can you listen to us for a moment?"

The darker Link snarled, his ears deaf to all the words Link was saying because of his frustration. "I'll teach you a lesson!"

_Wham!_

The black haired boy faltered, and then collapsed to the ground. Gale was standing right behind him, frowning flatly. "All right, that's enough." The albino was rubbing his fists together where the punch had connected. He laughed. "Ha! Finally I get to beat Link down!"

Link walked over and crouched next to his dazed twin. "That's not really me though."

"Quiet. I can pretend."

"That's not fair," the dark haired teen garbled, struggling to focus. He glared at Gale. "You weren't supposed to butt in, jerk face. This was between me and him."

"I suppose so. Unfortunately, we need Link here and you were wasting my time." Gale shrugged. "Now tell us who you are and what you want."

"Yes. What do you have against him?" Zelda asked.

The darker Link seethed and moved to go after the other Link again, but he was held down by Gale. The darker teen was furious. "Your name is Link?! What the hell, man, do you think playing the gold wolf is all fun and games? Who do you think you are, a hero?!"

"…What is he yammering about?" Gale wondered aloud. The darker Link continued, looking at them condescendingly.

"Yes, I was the gold wolf you idiots, and it was my decision to retire from playing the village hero a while ago. You're disrespecting my decision to kill off the gold wolf's name by parading around looking like how the gold wolf used to look!" He stopped a moment to catch his breath, and then stared coolly at the blond Link. "My name is Link Petrov. Now tell me who the fuck you are and what you're doing in Fujikawaguchiko."

All this time, Link didn't seem too surprised that the other teen's name was the same as his own. Ever since he had come to this time period he had been wondering what had happened to the Link of this age since Zelda and Ganondorf were also here. Upon seeing this darker Link, Farore's comment made more sense now: _in this world, the hero is no longer here._

He looked at the other sympathetically. "My name is also Link Petrov. These are my friends, Zelda Sterling and Gale Engst. We're just passing through."

The darker Link's eyes widened, and then spoke with disbelief. "You're not lying?" His blue eyes wandered, and then he answered his own question with some shock. "You're not lying…"

"Strange coincidences happen sometimes," Link tried to be reassuring. However, he knew that this was not just coincidence. From personal experience with the divine and magical, he had a hunch that this was Fate had a hand in this.

Gale made an impatient face. "Now that we've answered your questions, don't bother us again."

"That's right, we don't want to stay put for too long or Avilux I might appear again," Zelda nodded.

Suddenly, the darker Link perked up, and his hand shot out and grabbed Zelda's. "What did you just say?"

"I… what? Avilux I?"

The three watched in surprise when the darker Link whirled around and stormed off to kick an empty can that had been lying around. He raged for a while before he calmed down and walked back to where they were all standing with a puzzled look. The darker Link gazed down his nose at them. "Avilux I ruined my life." The three exchanged glances while he continued. "Follow me. I think we should talk."

"Didn't I just say we didn't have time to waste?" Gale rolled his eyes.

"Hold on, Gale. I think we should follow him." Link took a step towards his twin.

Seeing Zelda go with the two Links as well Gale sighed and hung his head. "Fine. Ugh, nothing good will come of this…"

XXXXXXX

They followed the darker Link to a small, two-story house that was squished by the side of a secluded road. Upon entering, they took off their shoes after the darker Link's example and moved off to a square room with several cushions. There were no sofas or couches in this house, so they made themselves comfortable on the flat cushions in the tatami room.

"Hey, Link?" Zelda began, and then stopped when two heads turned instead of just one. "Um, before that, can we decide a way to distinguish the two of you from each other?"

Gale tapped his chin. "That would reduce confusion." He scrutinized the darker Link. "Hmm… Ah! I know, how about we call you Black Link?"

Zelda made a face. "That's a little politically incorrect, don't you think?"

"Oh come on." Gale sighed, and then shrugged. "Whatever."

"…Just call me Dark. That's what some of the locals refer to me these days anyways," Dark said, throwing his jacket over to the corner. He took a sidelong glance at the mirror hanging on the wall, facing his reflection. He spoke to Zelda through the mirror. "So, were you talking to me or to _him_?"

"Uh," Zelda didn't like his slightly hostile and defensive attitude which was almost the opposite of Link's quirky light-hearted one. "Well, Dark, I was just wondering if you lived here by yourself." She felt a little silly for asking after the non-friendly atmosphere Dark had created. He leaned against the wall and stuffed his hands in his jeans pockets.

"I used to live here with my dad."

Gale frowned. "Used to?"

Dark smiled bitterly. "He's dead."

There was an awkward silence. Gale managed to speak first. "Dude, I'm sorry."

"Forget it." Dark sighed heavily. He reached over next to where he was sitting on the floor and lifted up one of the tatami mats. He pulled out a photograph that was ripped in half; there was a blond haired teen that was smiling broadly with a thumbs-up towards the camera. It was apparent he had his other arm around someone else, but the person had been cut off the picture by a larger tear through the middle of the photo. The teen looked exactly like Link, and he was even wearing the same exact clothes. Dark passed the picture towards Link, and Gale and Zelda crowded behind him to take a look.

"No way…" Zelda breathed. Gale didn't say anything, but he had deep creases in his forehead. Only Link didn't seem too surprised by seeing himself in the picture. He passed it back to Dark.

"That's you, isn't it?"

Dark shook his head. "No. That's who I was. I'm a different person now." He placed the photo on the floor in front of him and turned it around with his hands. "My dad and I moved to Japan when I was ten because of his work. It was just him and me, and it always has been since all of his relatives disowned him after he ran away with mom. It was the classic Romeo and Juliet story except Romeo survived and Juliet stayed dead. Mom died from a disease," he said it like he was talking about the weather. He noticed their weird looks, and then shrugged. "I was too young to remember mom. I had dad, and he was all I needed."  
"I was initially from New York, and since my north Russian heritage gave me this bright blond hair my dad figured he'd put me in an international school around here so I wouldn't feel uncomfortable sticking out like a sore thumb."

Zelda snapped her fingers. "International school! So that's why there were English speakers around here."

Dark nodded. "Yeah. The Rikkoki International School. Since its location isn't popular for international students, though, it's more like an English Learning School for Japanese natives. I ended up sticking out like a sore thumb anyway."

"Why isn't this place more popular with international students?" Link asked. Dark waved his arms around.

"This place? If it was a little closer to the city it would be better since most internationals live there but this is the rural suburbs." He went back to playing with the torn photograph again.  
"Anyways, every little thing I did would become the target of the latest gossip just because I stood out so much. It was always 'the blond kid this,' and 'the blond kid that.' So when I got into a fistfight during middle school with a few jokers who were picking on the elementary school kids, I had instantly become a hero. It was so weird – I hadn't done anything huge, but _because_ I was that blond gaijin, people wanted to paste a hero label on me. This village is small; I suppose people wanted the excitement of something new."

Zelda looked at the photograph of the beaming teen to the one who was staring at it cynically. Then, she noticed Link who had unconsciously sat mirroring the other Link, with the only difference being his sympathetic look. _He turned from that,_ she thought, _to this._ She also glanced at Gale when another thought struck her. _There's something similar with this boy to Vaati… seeing Link and Gale makes me think they weren't so bitter to begin with._

Dark let out a sour laugh, remembering something from the past. "Ha. I guess I got carried away with the hero label after a while. It's not like it's my fault, since I was only in middle school and I didn't know any better. I actually started running around looking for troublemakers to beat down, because I thought that would make everyone happy. Taking care of bullies turned to taking care of pickpockets, which led to going after vandals, then burglars, then actual gangs. I became lost in the glorified life of chasing after bad guys, because I had taken the title of hero too literally. My name spread like wildfire and to everyone I became the 'gold wolf.'"

"Just curious, but why 'gold wolf'?" Gale asked. "I can guess 'gold' is because you were blond, but wolf? Did you only appear on a full moon or something?"

Dark gave a patient smirk at Gale's purposely tactless comment. "I didn't come up with it, but it's because I always worked alone." His eyes challenged Gale. "I could immobilize entire gangs by myself."

Gale took up the staring challenge. Then, he chuckled. "I believe I'm supposed to act impressed? Hmph, you're going to have to immobilize entire armies if you want to impress me."

Upon noticing Dark's puzzled look at Gale's comment, Link intervened while keeping an eye on Gale. "Was that serious or sarcastic?"

Gale became annoyed of having to explain his comment. "Seriously sarcastic. For the love of Nayru you're such a social failure if you have to ask me that."

_So he's still Gale, but at the same time… Darn it, I have to stop being so jumpy about this guy._

"So," Zelda tried to change the subject, "what happened afterwards? Why aren't you the gold wolf anymore?"

Dark remained quiet for a while, and then he averted their gaze. "I took on more than I could handle. I'd began to feel how people were relying on me to keep the peace since I was doing a better job than the police, and before I knew it I had taken up an enormous responsibility I should have stayed away from. After every success I lost the reality that something could go wrong at any moment. I mean, how can the hero lose, right?"  
"Three years ago I had heard rumors about a small gang that had appeared and was harassing the locals. By that time I didn't even hesitate to hunt them down. I still remember vividly the time when I finally found them, because it was after that moment when my life changed completely…

XXXXXXXXXXX

Flashback – 2 years ago

"_This is the gold wolf everyone's been talking about? Ha! He's only a kid!" _

_A blond haired boy who was around thirteen stood defiantly in front of a group of six grown men who were smoking in an empty lot. A streetlamp illuminated the area where they were lounging, and the blond stood in the edge of where the light reached. He had his hands in the pockets of his long green jacket. _

_One of the men, Smoker, straightened up and flicked his cigarette. "Hey kid, I know you think you're going to be the hand of justice by taking care of us, but let's get one thing straight," he walked over to the young teen and put a slightly threatening hand on his shoulder. "This is the adult world, boy. You think you've played with the big dogs when you went after those petty little gangs but those were puppies compared to us. You've always been playing in the playground, and that's where you should stay if you don't want to get hurt."_

_Link Petrov took a step back, shaking the hand off his shoulder. "I don't want to hurt you," he said, unshaken, "but if that's what it's going to come down to for you to leave innocent people alone, then that's what I'll have to do."_

_Smoker rolled his eyes. "Look, kid, you have to realize that while you might be the wolf, you're trying to go up against dragons." He cracked his knuckles. "But since I'm sick of talking to you and having someone teach you a lesson will do you some good, I'm going to have to beat you up."_

_The boy tensed, his expression fierce. Then, before the man could do anything, Link's hand shot out of his pockets and a rock whistled through the air, connecting sharply with the man's head. The rest of the gang watched in shock when he blacked out and crumpled next to the teenager. Link pulled back the rubber band on his slingshot again and took aim at the group. "I warned you."_

"_He thinks he can beat us with a toy?!" Another member cried out indignantly. They all charged forward to attack Link. _

_Link took careful aim and shot the next rock in the middle of the gang running up to him. They dodged, and some of them laughed at what they thought was poor aim. _

_They stopped laughing when two of them fell down from two swift punches to the gut. Another followed suit after his knee was smashed in with a wooden pole Link had pulled out from a fence. Link twirled his pole while the remaining two watched it worriedly, realizing how far they had underestimated this boy. "That first shot… you aimed it to split us up, didn't you?"_

_Link smiled. "Uh huh."_

"_Kuh! Don't get so cocky! We'll get –" _

"_Stop… pull back…" a voice wheezed. The last two standing hesitated when they heard Smoker speak. He was holding his face where blood trickled down where the rock had hit, and he steadied himself on his feet. "All right. So the rumors weren't all made up after all," he spat. Smoker wobbled and held up his hands. "We admit defeat."_

_Link watched him carefully for some time. Then, he allowed himself to relax ever so slightly. "Okay. But I'm going to have to tie you up."_

"_I don't think we have much choice in the matter considering you'll probably beat us down if we disagree."_

"_That's right."_

_Smoker laughed, and sat back down obediently to be tied up in defeat. _

_It took only a couple of minutes for all six members to be immobilized in a tightly wrapped bundle. Link made a call to the police to explain to them what had happened, and to tell them where they could find the gang. Once he was done, he was about to leave when the wheezy voice of Smoker stopped him again. _

"_You know, do you ever think about what happens after you turn in the bad guys to the police?"_

_Link didn't turn around, but he stopped walking. Smoker continued. _

"_Most of your petty criminals leave Fujikawaguchiko after being beaten by you because they don't want to deal with you anymore. Yes, they're probably walking around and going about their lives instead of being locked up somewhere. What, did you actually think that by handing us over to the police they'd put us away? It's not that easy."_

_Link paused. "I know. But like you said they know not to screw around as long as I'm here." The thirteen year old appeared older than his age as he said it._

_Smoker laughed again. "Right, right. This is why I'm saying you've never really played with the big, fierce dogs before. Because we're not going to leave you alone." He said the last part nastily. _

"_It's your choice if you want to keep getting concussions from me."_

"_You be careful, gold wolf. You'd better watch your back, because when Harrier finds out it'll be the end of you."_

_Link tilted his head at the comment, but ignored Smoker and walked away. He didn't place any importance in the name Harrier at the time, because he had figured he would be just like any other thug he had encountered before…_

Fast-forward a few weeks

_Link stood in the shade of a tree, hidden from sight. It was late at night, and his heart was still pounding from carefully sneaking out of his house without the notice of his dad. His dad hated how he went outside to take care of criminals, and he knew he would be grounded if he knew what he was going to do tonight. Link took out a piece of paper that had become crumpled in his jacket pocket, and read the note for the hundredth time. It read: _

Gold wolf –

I hear you have given my boys quite a beating. My name is Harrier. Would you care to have a chat with me? Go to the sporting fields in Narusawa. Once there, head to the main office, you can't miss it. You may choose to be escorted or enter on your own – either way I will be waiting inside. I will be expecting you at 11:30pm. Should you not arrive, I will make a personal visit at a different date.

Harrier

_Considering the last line, Link knew that if he didn't go to meet Harrier himself, Harrier just might decide to show up at his own house. That would spell trouble, and his dad would become seriously upset with him. That gave him no choice but to handle things himself. _

_Link glanced at the brown-roofed building that had to be the one Harrier had been talking about. It was right next to the parking lot, and there were several guys who looked like ones from Smoker's crew patrolling the area. He took a breath. By escort, Harrier must've meant, "take captive" from the looks of things. Why else would the man have dared him to enter on his own?_

"_Here goes," Link said quietly, and then made a quick dash around the edge of the line of trees to further conceal himself. He winced when he heard a shout. He'd been noticed. _

_Link thought quickly, and he got an idea when he noticed the edge of a large trashcan sitting against the building's wall around the corner. He looked back and saw a few men following him at a distance, and then he ran around the corner and jumped into the trashcan. It wasn't pleasant, but he hoped he'd be able to hide just long enough to come up with another idea. _

"_Hm? I swear I thought I saw something."_

_Link heard a voice outside. _

"_Ha. Maybe you imagined it. Do you really think the kid's going to show up?"_

"_I don't know. I just want to go home. This is boring."_

"_Yeah no kidding."_

_The voices trailed off. Link was pleased by how surprisingly well he had evaded them with such a simple trick. Grabbing a penknife out of his pocket, he poked a small hole in the side of the plastic trashcan and took a peek outside. The coast was clear, and he could see a side door that led inside. Link jumped out of the trashcan, swiping away some wrappers and avoiding a piece of gum, and then snuck towards the door used by employees. Grinning, he took out his trusty bobby pins and a screwdriver and began to fiddle around with the keyhole. He swore when he broke the bobby pin, but then smiled satisfactorily when the lock clicked open with his second attempt. One day he needed to figure out how to open locks without breaking pins, but until then, this would suffice. _

_He opened the door and walked into a corridor leading into a large room with counters and a cash register. There were a few computers and posters of sporting events on the walls. In the flat benches on the other side of the wall was a silhouette of a man. Link jumped back. _

"_Bravo. I wouldn't have expected anything less from you based on the rumors I've heard." _

_The man stood up, and from the faint light from moon coming outside the window, Link could make out the lines of a sharp suit and a blue tie. The man was in his late twenties or early thirties, and his dark hair was tied back in a small ponytail. His smile was nothing short of vicious. _

"_I usually don't care much about the affairs of stupid gangs ever since I've left them in my past a long time ago. However, as a former member of a few, when I'm asked for help I can't help but answer. You were unlucky, boy, when I just so happened to be around when you beat up Kokuhai's gang. They want me to make sure you never poke around in other people's business again."_

"_Kokuhai… you mean the walking ashtray?"_

_Harrier laughed. "Yes, him. Anyways, we can do this in two ways – the diplomatic way or the threatening way."_

_Link gripped his penknife in his pocket tighter. "I'm going to ask you to leave this village alone."_

"_Hold on, kid. Usually the one who holds more power over the other person is the one who gets to make the deals. In this situation, you are powerless over me so I get to let you know your options."_

"_Don't underestimate… me…" When Link had finished his sentence, he felt the cold blade of a dagger pressed against his throat. He suddenly felt his knees become shaky – Harrier was fast!_

"_And I say the same to you." Harrier tapped Link's left wrist with the edge of his dagger while keeping a firm grip around the teen's neck. "Drop the knife. I doubt you have the balls to actually kill someone, and you'd never rest in peace if you end up with your first murder."_

_Link dropped the knife. Harrier was right, and the more the man talked, the more he began to realize how outmatched he was both physically and psychologically. _

"_Now here are your two choices. The first is very easy and even I think I'm being too nice: you must erase everything about being the gold wolf. That means no crime fighting and getting rid of the image that is associated with the name. I will also ask you to break into your father's safe and bring me all of his valuables using your lock picking skills – I deserve something from this after all."_

_Link squirmed a little, only to find with disappointment that Harrier was knowledgeable in submission. "What if I refuse?"_

"_Then I will have to hurt you until you learn your lesson. If that doesn't work, then someone close to you will pay." _

_Link sat quietly for some time. This hadn't gone the way he'd wanted to at all. He felt foolish for thinking Harrier was going to be just like the other thugs, and that he'd be able to handle things. He had grossly underestimated Harrier. _

_A small beep sounded from somewhere around Harrier's ear. The man scowled, and then slowly loosened his grip on Link much to the teen's surprise. Harrier stood up and walked to the edge of the room with one hand on his right ear. "Sir."_

_Link rubbed his neck where Harrier had been choking him earlier. Meanwhile, Harrier seemed to be talking to a superior. _

"_Yes sir. I had some business to attend to. Local, sir."_

_Link felt a piece of rope that was in his pockets. He always carried it around since he'd found it useful on more than one occasion. _

"_I… Oh come on Dugal, some old friends needed my help." There was a pause with Harrier flinching. "Sir, I'm sorry about speaking to you like that, sir. I forget I'm not in a position to speak like that sometimes."_

_Link quickly attached a hook he had devised to the end of the rope. _

"_I won't disappear like that again. Sir."_

_CLANG!_

"_Aargh!"_

_Link was pinned to the floor, and he felt a sharp pain where Harrier had his knee digging into his back. The claw shot was spread on the floor, a knife stuck on the rope preventing it from flying around its target like Link had intended._

"_Don't try," Harrier growled, his attention back towards Link. He slowly let him go. "I'm going to let you leave this place now. Go home, and think carefully about what I told you. I'll give you a week to make a decision."_

_Link nodded, and then ran out the door. For the first time in his life, he was shaken by his opponent._

XXXXXXXXX

Gale crossed his arms over his chest. "So from looking at you now, I'm guessing you picked the first option?"

Dark hung his head. "That's what I should have done, but I didn't pick either. I couldn't think of stealing from dad at that point, and I couldn't comprehend just how far Harrier would go." He looked sadly at the photograph of the smiling teen. "They were right; all along I never knew what it was like to go tooth and claw with the big dogs."

"Then what happened?" Link asked.

"My dad found out what had happened. When I got home that night, I'd been so shaken that I'd been more careless in sneaking back in. Dad woke up and caught me in the middle of going to my room. I could never lie to my dad, and he always knew when something was wrong. Eventually he managed to get out of me everything that Harrier had said to me."  
"It turned out that dad knew who Harrier was. Dad was working for Avilux I at the time, and he'd heard his name mentioned before as someone in the upper divisions."

"Goddesses." Gale sat back. "Why was your dad working for Avilux I?"

"Look, no one really knows how horrible a company, or should I say organization, Avilux I is even today. They're good at covering up incriminating evidence so no major investigations can uncover them to be the filth they are, and most of the people working for them think they're working for a benevolent company. It was only after he heard about what Harrier had done that my dad became suspicious about what the organization was really like."  
"After my dad found out, he did some investigations on his own and snooped around the executive files. He risked his job gathering information, and after he slipped a note to the police about Harrier he started finding hidden surveillance cameras around his workspace. Harrier had even sent him a note saying "hello," but it was anything other than friendly."

"The police managed to bother him, did they?" Gale asked smugly.

Dark nodded. "Yes, but at the same time they let him go since there was nothing to catch him on." His voice wavered a little, and he took a few seconds to make the pain in his voice disappear. "Dad was sometimes just as stupid as me. He believed in justice. Even though he was angry that I'd become the village hero since he thought I was endangering myself, in his heart he was proud. Like me, he played the hero too and ended up paying for it."  
"Dad wasn't fazed by Harrier's, and later the boss's, various threats. Instead, he was fueled by it, becoming more convinced that something villainous was going on. He could have left the company, but dad stayed, thinking he would have an easier time gathering enough evidence to uncover the dirt of Avilux I. His work paid off, and I learned later that he had managed to find out the organization's connection to the underground. It was one of the greatest king pins in criminal gangs, and could be considered the most powerful with all the money, connections, and resources. He was about to turn them in right then and there, but Harrier, who had been keeping an eye on dad, had caught wind of him before he could do anything. The next day my dad was… my dad…"

Zelda gently put an arm around Dark whose hand was trembling. He clenched his fist, and then relaxed them.

"My dad never came back home. He'd completely disappeared without a trace, and the police eventually gave up. They claimed he must've committed suicide in Aokigahara." Dark slammed his fist on the floor, his voice cracking. "It wasn't suicide! My dad was never the kind of man to kill himself! I don't know how they did it, but Avilux I was responsible for his death!"

At this point, Link, Zelda, and Gale were all sitting in utter shock. Dark continued softly.

"I realized then that heroes aren't worth it when the villain is so powerful. It wasn't like the stories you hear as a kid, where the heroes always win. I mean, how can someone with morals win against someone who is so heartless to be able to play without rules? You can't. I had been naïve, and I got a taste of reality when I was pitted against a real criminal organization. I died my hair black and I threw away the title of gold wolf, vowing that the gold wolf would never return. I let the gangs go, and decided to mind my own business. Since then, Avilux I pulled out of Fujikawaguchiko for some reason and I never heard from Harrier ever again."

"Well… about that," Link said, a little worried. "We actually ran into a gang who thought I was you. They threatened to tell Harrier…"

Dark's reaction was unexpected. He didn't seem to care too much. "Whatever. I don't think Harrier will be able to do much anymore."

"Why's that?" Gale asked, confused.

"Well, apparently he was once a part of a freelancing group called Talon Three that was working for Avilux I."

"TALON THREE?!"

Dark blinked, and then looked from one shocked face to another as Link, Gale, and Zelda shouted in unison. "Uh, yeah."

"Holy Farore… okay, continue. We'll tell you our experiences with Talon Three later," Link said, holding his head.

"Wait, you know Talon Three?!" Now Dark was surprised.

"Yes. Yes, we'll tell you about it later but just tell us what happened to Harrier," Link urged. Dark Link shook his head, and then he went on.

"Wow, weird. Anyway, I hear Talon Three was really upset about what Harrier had done. I don't know much since that group is really secretive about their activities, but I gathered they were mad because Harrier had a tendency to expose things to the general public. Like my dad for instance: if Harrier had been more discreet, dad wouldn't have started to dig up information about Avilux I."  
"Some months after Avilux I left Fujikawaguchiko, I heard some gang members mentioning how he was a paraplegic now. From the brutality Harrier was willing to go through, I assumed Talon Three would be just as brutal to snap his spine and paralyze him so he wouldn't be able to do much anymore."

Gale whistled. "I knew Dugal wasn't someone you'd want to piss off. That's horrid."

"I feel no pity for him." A hard glint was in Dark's eyes. "Harrier is an evil man. He got only a portion of what he deserved." He watched the other three carefully. "Now I've told you my story. Let's hear yours."

They exchanged glances, and then Link spoke, volunteering to be storyteller. "All right. It's going to be a little long though."

XXXXXXX

"…and that's why we're going to Aokigahara," Link concluded after a long time of explaining everything that had happened. Gale was surprised that Link had left nothing out, but at the same time he didn't know how else he could have explained their situation to Dark. Dark had been a good listener, rarely interrupting even though most of the time his face was in a conflict on whether or not to stay serious.

Dark mulled over what Link had told him. "So basically what you're telling me," he said slowly, "is that you came from the past with a kid who can summon the apocalypse, this pompous guy is the reincarnation of an evil wind mage – "

"Presumably," Gale interjected.

" – Avilux I is going for world domination and its leader is also a reincarnation of an evil warlock, and to save the world you guys are going to try to find a palace floating in the air, but before that you have to get the sorcerer to remember how to take you there by finding an ageless temple in Aokigahara? Did I miss anything?"

"Only the polka-dotted unicorns."

"Ah. I can only imagine how those fit into all this."

Link threw his hands in the air exasperatedly. "Gale, you're not helping."

"You have to admit this is all hard to believe," Dark pointed out.

Gale shook his head. "That's what we've all been telling him, but he won't shut up about it if we don't pretend we believe him."

"Hey! You started believing things too, Gale. Don't pretend like you don't."

The pale one huffed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

This time, Zelda said tiredly, "Then how do you explain what you did at the staircase at the Avilux I facility?"

"I… well… hmf!"

While the three were discussing their own opinions on whether or not the whole thing was believable or not, Dark seemed to be ruminating on everything that had been said. In the background, Gale was in a losing argument against Link and Zelda on why he thought he wasn't a reincarnation of some wind sorcerer. Dark swiveled around so that he was facing the mirror on the wall, and compared himself to the other Link that was sitting away from him. If Link's crazy story had been true, then that would make Dark the supposed hero and would explain why they looked so similar and shared the same skills. But…

"Whatever the case may be, I'm not going to have anything to do with you guys." Dark's voice put an end to the middle of their debate.

"Oh," Zelda looked disappointed.

"Good for you," Gale looked jealous.

"Why not?" Link wanted to know.

Dark laughed. "Because it's got nothing to do with me, that's why." He stood up and stretched. "I'll let you use my place to crash until you find what you're looking for in Aokigahara, but I've already told you I've retired from all this 'playing hero' business."

"But don't you want to stop Avilux I?"

Dark waved his counterpart off. "Don't get me wrong, I would want nothing more than to crush them to pieces. At the same time, I just don't want to have anything to do with them anymore."

"But – "

"Look. I said no," Dark cut him off with a harsh tone. Then, he said a little more gently to the three disappointed faces, "I'm sure you'll have no problems finding that temple of yours. I've actually been to some ruins in Aokigahara and I wouldn't be surprised if that's what you're talking about."

Link tried one last time. "Care to show us where those ruins were?"

Dark shook his head. "Persistent, aren't you? This time, it's not that I won't but it's that I can't. I don't remember how I got there. Still, it didn't take me too long to find so you'll probably get there easily, too." He walked out of the room. "If you wait until tomorrow I'll help you get a cab there. Otherwise, feel free to walk for several hours to get to the forest, because it's a long walk. And if you want food you can buy stuff at the shops around here or find whatever looks edible in the fridge. Just don't gluttonize yourselves or I'll make you pay rent."

"Thanks Dark," Zelda called after him for everyone.

All three of them, including the antisocial Gale, looked sufficiently disappointed that Dark didn't want to join them.

"He would've been a great help," Link muttered.

"Yeah. We could've replaced you with him and everything would have been great," Gale agreed.

"Or we could have had you replaced instead, Gale," Zelda quipped.

"Would you really take quantity over quality?"

"Yes."

"Aren't we the material girl."

"Is that jealousy I hear?"

Gale was thrown for a loop. "I… what?! You're hearing things!"

This time, Zelda was the one with the evil little smirk. "I know. I was joking."

"Then don't say things like that. I feel nothing but revulsion right now."

"Just trying to prove a point, Gale. You play head-games with me, I play head-games with you. If you don't like it, then leave me alone."

Gale considered her statement, and then a wicked grin crept across his face. "I'll steal your heart and crush it."

"I'll show you the will of woman."

"A will as frail as a flower, but not as pretty."

"Roses fall, but the thorns remain. If you are wise you'll leave me be."

"A man once said: wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences."

"Uh… guys?"

Link felt incredibly out of place interrupting. "Teamwork, right?" Now he felt slightly worse and incredibly stupid for suggesting such a thing, especially from the looks he was getting. He was relieved when Dark strolled back with extra blankets. Link walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey Dark, I'll go buy all of us food tonight."

Dark stopped. "That's awfully nice of you."

Link smiled. "No problem. So uh, I'll just go out now. Make sure these two don't rip each other's heads off, okay?"

"Huh?"

Link ran out, and Dark was left standing in the room with two very annoyed looking people. He gulped. "Hi?"

XXXXXXXXXXX

"Sir. This is Hawk sir."

Dugal stopped wiping the windshield of his small airplane. He was currently at a tiny airport near the Mt. Fuji area; enjoying flying while the rest of his team had been sent to observe what the three teens were doing. "Yes? Did anything interesting happen?"

"I just wanted to say I spotted Harrier, sir."

The line went silent, and Hawk waited patiently on the other end listening to the static. Dugal slowly began to wipe his parked plane again. "How is he doing?"

"He's not very interesting sir. I was wondering if I should watch him instead since Condor and Kestrel are both tailing the targets."

"Hmm. That might not be a bad idea. I'm curious to see how well he's kept his promise to retire from… strenuous activities."

"Yes sir."

Dugal put the cloth away and stepped inside the plane to lounge in the pilot seat. He put both his feet onto the front panel. "Punish him as you see fit if he breaks his promise. Even though he's no longer part of Talon Three, he might be tempted to work under its name and that would twist our reputation a little."

"Yes sir."

They disconnected, and Dugal yawned. He thought about the man who had caused so much trouble a few years ago. Covering up his messy trail had been such a chore. He had a weird feeling Harrier would come up again before this business with the teens were over. _What a sick-minded fellow he'd been. _Dugal had never really liked Harrier too much. Therefore, he hadn't been too upset at having to make him lose the ability to walk freely. It had been a loss to the team's abilities, but overall it hadn't hurt them too much in the long run.

In Talon Three, everyone had their specialties.

Hawk was the best at information gathering. His droopy eyes were deceptively sharp and he knew where to keep his ears alert. He also had a boyish look that came in handy for getting people to trust him.

Kestrel was the tech expert. Dugal could rely on him to handle anything that involved computer codes and hacking, as well as programming and disarming explosives.

Condor wasn't an expert on anything, but the most well rounded of his subordinates. He could have been Dugal's perfect right hand man if it weren't for his occasionally annoying habit of wanting to know too many details of Dugal's plans.

And then there'd been Harrier. Oh Harrier. Dugal supposed his personality had been perfect for his job and that in that aspect he had picked the best person he could. Harrier had been Talon Three's slash man. That meant he would handle many of the disappearing acts of certain targets and deal with the cruelest of interrogation methods. Dugal often wondered if the man had a heart at all. His knife throwing was incredibly accurate, and in countries where guns were illegal such as Japan, his frightening skill had been useful when needed.

The only thing that allowed Dugal to have any control over Harrier was something so stupid that he could've laughed. Dugal beat Harrier in charisma. If he got in a fight with Harrier with only fighting prowess in consideration, Dugal wasn't sure if his shooting skills would outmatch Harrier's knife abilities. It was the fact that Dugal could convince more people to be on his side than Harrier's that had won the psychotic man over. After all, Harrier wasn't so stupid to realize he wouldn't win if it were him against twenty.

To be honest, Dugal had been relieved when he'd kicked Harrier out. He'd been too… unstable.

XXXXXXXXX

It was late night, yet Gale had trouble sleeping. It wasn't jetlag that was the culprit, but because of their encounter with Dark. He shifted around, throwing his blanket over his shoulder and trying to make himself comfortable on the floor where they were sleeping. He was trying his best not to wake Link up who he had grudgingly been made to share a room with, and he carefully attempted to avoid making any sudden movements. After some time, suspicions began to gnaw on him and he finally thumped his fist onto the floor.

"You're awake," he accused the blanket pile next to him. A slight shift in position from the pile confirmed suspicions.

"Yeah." Link sounded wide-awake, suggesting he hadn't been able to go to sleep either. "What gave me away?"

"Your breathing. It was too quiet."

"Oh."

They lay silent in the dark for some time. The only noise at night was the creaking of the house from the light wind outside.

"I couldn't sleep," Link admitted.

Gale mumbled something in agreement, but it was inaudible under the covers.

"I was thinking about Dark." Link raised his arms so his head rested against them. "Why weren't you asleep Gale?"

He heard a puff of air, and he could imagine Gale with his usual bitter smirk. "Heh. Same thing."

There was another lapse of silence. And then,

"He was supposed to be you, right?"

Link brought his left hand close to his face, looking at the faint outline of the gold triangle on his hand. "That's what I'm thinking. I don't know… it's just hearing what had happened to him made me think about just how stupid fate is. Like, does anyone have free will at all?"

"What do you mean? Why are you thinking of that all of a sudden?"

Link sighed. "I don't know if this is true or not, but I've put together a theory on how this whole Triforce, Hero, Destiny crap all fits together."

"Hmf. It's late enough for foolishly insane theories. Let's hear it."

"Looking at patterns of how the Triforce holders appear and then disappear and then appear again in history, I'm guessing they're reincarnated again and again, right?"

"Sure."

"But then there are years in between where nothing happens, and everything is more or less peaceful. When one appears, they all appear. When none appear, then none appear. This era with Dark was one where they weren't supposed to appear."

Gale caught on. "And you're thinking that since _you_ appeared with the Triforce…"

"That I caused the other holders to start moving towards each other. I mean, ever since I came here, Zelda, Ganondorf, and Dark are beginning to converge to the same spot. We even moved across the ocean to come this close."

"But where does that leave Dark?"

"I… I don't know." Link shifted a little. "But I was thinking… you know how Dark tried to be a hero?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, it's almost like when he tried to be one, he was broken down so that he wouldn't be one. Because he wasn't _supposed_ to be one in this era."

There was a lapse before Gale spoke again with scorn. "You speak as though there are higher powers controlling what we do."

"I believe there is such a thing as destiny. It's frightening, isn't it? I've always believed in the goddesses and the influence of the Triforce, but just how much never really hit me until I heard Dark's story. He never had a choice, just like I had never had a choice to not be a hero." Link shook his head. "I just… I just feel sick."

"Then how do you think _I_ feel?"

Link's eyes widened, surprised by how Gale's voice had suddenly become thick with fury. He turned his head slowly towards the teen lying next to him.

"I had been living my life without a care in the world. It had been so uncomplicated with a nice touch of boredom. Then _you_ come along," he shook in anger, "to tell me that I'm the reincarnation of a wind mage." Gale sat up and glared in Link's direction. "Since then, I've been spending every minute hanging on to who I think I am, only to find that the harder I try, the less confident I feel that Gale Engst is real. I don't have a choice in what's going to happen to me, do I?" he spat the last part.

Link didn't know what to say. _So that's why he wanted to deny everything about Vaati…_

"I know. Goddesses damn I _know_ it's true I'm Vaati, okay? Just don't make it any harder for me by reminding me all the time."

"You could have told me earlier," Link said quietly. He felt guilty. He'd always been too concerned about stopping Skull Kid to think about how this was going to affect people like Gale. It reminded him of how angry he had felt at first, when he found out he had endured so much crap just because he had been destined to be a hero. Link had wished he had been born a normal Kokiri, but had eventually resigned himself to his fate when he realized wishing for something wasn't going to change anything. "When did you find out?"

"Since I saw you at Burger King."

"Huh…"

Gale sneered. "You know what I'm talking about. You felt it too, right, that instant recognition? That's why you followed me and that's why I hated you; because we both recognized, whether we consciously knew it or not, that you and I had fought before."

What Gale had said was true. Link hung his head. He had never fought Vaati before, but whenever he'd heard that name he had a feeling that the sorcerer wasn't an entirely foreign name. And just like Gale, he had taken an instant distrust towards him – the only difference between Link and Gale was that the blond had been used to accepting predestined things.

Gale continued. "It got worse after the staircase incident. I don't really remember what had transpired, but ever since then there's someone else thinking my thoughts. It's like there's someone in the background who's yelling angrily at you to turn around to face him, but when you try, you find that your neck is stuck and you can't turn around. Well, actually, it's always been like that but since then it's become more obvious." Gale laughed bitterly. "And do you know what's worse? I actually like the name Vaati. It's strangely comforting." He plopped back down again. "Don't get me wrong, though. That's not a permission to let you call me Vaati, because I'm Gale. I'm going to fight for that no matter how hard it is."

"…I'm sorry." That was all Link could offer. He was aware that Gale knew there was a possibility that by the end of this ordeal, Gale was going to disappear with the return of Vaati. Even though they were the same person, no one could know how their philosophies they picked up through life experiences would differ. "Thank you for helping us."

"It's not like I have a choice," Gale growled. Another sour smile twitched on the corner of his face just under his crescent scar, and his ruby eyes glinted. "And it's not like you have a choice either, for that matter. We are all victims of destiny."

Link closed his eyes in an attempt to fall asleep. It wasn't too difficult any more since all of this talk had tired him. He figured Gale felt the same when his breathing slowed and he remained quiet for some time, just after he mumbled something under his breath. It had been a Gale-esque thing to do since the pale teen liked to mumble to himself a lot, but the words that Link caught left him wondering if he had imagined it later:

"_If I had realized that sooner, I would never have been envious of your kind's immortality."_

It had been a totally Vaati thing to say; so who had he actually been talking to?

* * *

Travel Log: No new locations, so no travel logs for you.

* * *

fleets: Ayhup, this is another one of my "let's think of a scenario that would allow things to make enough sense to keep the plot from imploding." Coming up with Dark's past was a monster to wrestle with, but I think (I hope) I managed to tame it. Just in case people are confused by the long explanation above, here's the short summary: Dark was supposed to be the 'present Link' but because a conflict involving the Triforce wasn't destined to happen in this era, his attempt at being a hero was shot down by devine powers so he wouldn't be a hero.  
Having no hero in this era wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't for Link, because now the world needs one (apocalypse, anyone?) but there's no hero.

Don't worry, there are still gaps in the theory with Dark, so if you like complications there are more heading your way. ;)

Also, random quip but the school's name Rikkoki School is an anagram of "Kokiri" ;)

**Midna Hytwilian: **Unfortunately, this time around it's Dark because of the reasons you described (except blue eyes). I couldn't find a reasonable reason for him to have red eyes, so it's a blue-eyed Dark. He's not so mischievous as Shadow Link, and is pretty brooding. As if we don't have enough angsty characters already (coughGalecough).**  
**

**Astral S. Kepeire:** Caffeine is great. The gold wolf was my attempt to reference a hero-esque image (Hero's Shade), but the gold wolf from TP is not the direct analog of the gold wolf in this story (just an easter egg). Hope this chapter cleared up most questions from before :) Ask away if you're still confused, and hope you didn't wait too long for this!

**SubZeroChimera: **Yeah, the difference between Gale and Vaati is becoming blurred. Even I become confused sometimes. You're welcome :)**  
**

**Darkwind: **I tend to lead on the side of villains, but not those extreme crazy guys who seem to have no motive besides bloodlust. Pockey is love.**  
**

**LinkxDarkLink: **np, don't worry :) And you're exactly right, it was Dark Link!**  
**

**marium: **The children are random, but they were written with the Kokiri in mind. Haha it took a lot of text for the four of them to get on listening terms. **  
**

**Ephriokko: **No, I make sure the characters don't have an easy way out of things :P**  
**

**henslight: **Mmm, I don't see Sheik as a bloody mess though... And yes, it's Dark Link! I was so excited when I finally got to this part. Ummm, I guess I imagine the characters in the way I usually draw them on devart, but if I had to pick a game, this particular story would have me imagining Ocarina of Time/Twilight Princess realism. It depends on the story (like in Beyond Centuries I imagined them to be WW style for the WW half and TP style for the TP half). **  
**

**Reily96: **I knowww, that last chapter was pretty vague for most of it XP**  
**

**i-wish-a7x: **Yup! It's Dark Link! And from this chapter, you can start to see he's mostly on his own side, and no one else's.**  
**

**xBlackDragoonx: **Oh wow thank you! I'm happy you like it so far! :D**  
**

**Temyx Mew Mew Haerts: **I wonder if this chapter explained your question a little? The reason why I picked the name gold wolf is explained in the reply to Astral: "The gold wolf was my attempt to reference a hero-esque image (Hero's Shade), but the gold wolf from TP is not the direct analog of the gold wolf in this story (just an easter egg)."


	19. Harrier Strikes

fleets: whooo I'm on a roll! (...kind of)

**Chapter 18: Harrier Strikes**

After a good night's rest for the odd trio, they found themselves standing at the edge of the hiking trail that led into the infamous Aokigahara, the Sea of Trees. Link made them double-check what they had brought for their expedition: a few energy bars, water, sandwiches, a foldable map of the area around Aokigahara, and one compass by Dark to share between them. Stepping over roots and rocks, they progressed down the trail. Well, whatever trail there was: Aokigahara was mostly rugged and dense with trees, relatively untouched by humans for some strange reason.

"We'll stick to the markers left by hikers for now until we go deeper into the forest. Then we'll explore the unmarked areas since that would be our best shot at finding the temple," Link explained.

Gale didn't sound too optimistic. "If it even exists at all," he shrugged, "you heard how Dr. Willits failed at finding it."

"And you know I'm one of the few who can navigate the Lost Woods. Have some faith." Link smiled with confidence. "Besides, if I can't do it, then Zelda should be able to."

"Me?" The girl asked, surprised. Then, she looked around. "I don't know. I kind of know what you mean, but at the same time…"

"With things like this, it's all about trusting your instincts. Come on, let's go find the Temple of Time."

XXXXXXXX

Dark stretched out on the tatami mats in his house and stared at the ceiling. He'd sent the weird bunch off to Aokigahara on a taxi, and once again he was left alone in his home. It had been a while since he had had friends or visitors over, and he was somewhat relieved to be by himself again. Ever since he had become "Dark," he felt drained whenever he was around people for extended periods of time.

He rolled over lazily. His winter break was becoming interesting with the meeting of the other Link. He had been prepared to have a completely chill winter break of doing absolutely nothing. Even Christmas and New Years, he had been planning to shut himself up indoors so he didn't have to see all the happy families celebrating.

Dark snorted. His teachers at school had noticed his changing attitude and had recommended therapy, but he'd ignored them. He didn't want to explain to anyone why his dad wasn't around anymore. He'd even managed to push away all of his old friends, telling them he wanted nothing to do with them anymore. It didn't take long for them to drift away, afraid of his sudden vicious attitude; some learned the hard way that an injured wolf was a dangerous wolf.

No one but the police knew about his father's "suicide." He'd asked to keep it private, and afterwards he lied to anyone curious that his father was really busy and rarely went outside. Initially, he'd been worried that people who took care of property loans and all of that adult stuff would come knocking on his door with questions, but they never came. Even though he didn't really know how those financial issues worked, he had assumed that someone would say something since he never tried to take care of taxes or pay for anything. It was odd, but in two years nothing had happened; some goddess out there must really favor him in that regard.

Therefore, no one ever bothered Dark about his dad's disappearance. He liked it that way, but at the same time he was aware that it was hindering his ability to get help on the issue.

Oh well. Screw that.

He rolled over again. Hmm, now what? _I suppose I could just go sit in a corner and be emo for the rest of the day_, he thought sarcastically.

Dark raised his head to a soft "ping." Someone had pressed the doorbell, but who would visit him at this time? Did the trio come back already? It couldn't have been more than half an hour since they had left. Getting to his feet, he walked over to the door and peered through the viewing hole. His clear blue eyes narrowed. A postman was standing outside his door with a clipboard to sign and a package. Dark was suspicious, however, because he knew that the postal office never did deliveries before noon for his area.

Dark had had several experiences in the past of gangs trying to get rid of him or frighten him by coming to his front door, but he had always been prepared. The gangs should know that he could beat them in a fight, and that it was near impossible to catch him off guard with simple tricks like disguising as the postman. What was with this sudden renewed effort to get him?

Dark waited a few more minutes by the door to see what the postman would do. If he was indeed the real postman, then the man would leave and come back another time. If not…

The "postman" rubbed his gloved hands together, trying to keep away the winter wind's bite. This man had no intention of leaving.

_Well, if that's the case…_

Dark cracked his knuckles. These guys were going to learn one hell of a lesson.

Opening the door, he had been expecting the man to confront him. He had been expecting for the "postman" to do something to attack him in one way or another. What Dark hadn't been expecting was for the postman to look up at him in fright and block his head with both of his arms up against his temples in defense.

"Please! Please don't hurt me!" he shook. He had dropped the clipboard and package onto the ground.

"Wha -?" Dark was perplexed. He frowned, and then said sternly, "what are you doing here? What do you want?"

"I w-was forced into this! I d-didn't want t-to but Harrier made me and –"

"Harrier?" Dark hissed at the name.

"P-please! I spoke too much, they'll come after me now! You've got to help me! You have to help me! HELP ME!" He began to shout hysterically in a panic, leaving Dark not knowing what to do. He wasn't used to handling situations like this.

"Okay. Okay okay, just calm down."

"THEY'LL GET ME NOW YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!"

"Be quiet! You're causing a commotion! Just calm down!"

"Put me out of my misery!" the man wailed. He hung his head and buried his face in his hands.

Realizing how hopeless it was to calm the panicked man with words, Dark decided to oblige in putting him out of his misery. "All right then. I'm sorry about having to knock you unconscious for a while." He brought his hand back and prepared to hit him across the head in such a way that the man would black out smoothly. However, he was surprised when the postman suddenly stopped screaming and calmly brought his right arm up to block Dark's hit.

The man smiled out of pity, and his slightly creepy grin made Dark realize his mistake in letting his guard down. "Yes, I am sorry for you."

As soon as Dark's fist connected with the man's, he felt it hit something metallic under the jacket, like a thin canister. There was a cracking noise, and then a low hiss of air as nauseous fumes escaped from the arm that Dark had hit. Dark tried to back away, but instead he staggered with dizziness and felt a tingling sensation in his arms and legs. The gas had caught a direct hit on him, and his reaction was becoming slower. It wasn't difficult for the man to come up to him and grab him around the neck, the paralyzing gas still fuming out of his arm.

Both of them fell to the ground, the gas starting to affect the postman as well. Dark struggled to stay awake. However, the last of his remaining energy disappeared when he gave up at the sight of people rushing towards him. They were laughing about something, and before long, he felt a gag jerk over his mouth and a rough chord immobilize his hands and feet.

_Damn…_

XXXXXXXX

Four gang members from Smoker's gang sat uncertainly in the car where Dark lay bound inside the trunk. To be honest, they had been caught off guard by the fact that Dark had gone back to looking like, well, Dark. "He lost that blond look real fast," one of them mentioned.

Smoker heaved his shoulders in a shrug. "It's too bad for him. Harrier wanted to see him, and you can't escape someone who's from Talon Four."

"Aren't they Talon Three now?"

Smoker paused, and then warned, "Don't say that in front of Harrier. He'll get upset."

The car made its way around the small lakeside town. It stopped and let some pedestrians cross the road, the people blissfully unaware that it was in the middle of kidnapping an unfortunate teenager. The "postman" lay sleeping peacefully in the backseat from the effects of the paralyzing gas, and his companion sitting next to him grumbled, trying to take off his shoes.

"Ugh, I'm so glad I can finally take these things off." He popped one off with a grunt and began to pull on the other one. "Seriously, these shoes are two sizes too small."

"Harrier's orders. Whatever footprints we leave behind are footprints that are smaller than they're supposed to be."

"Yeah but still…"

"Don't you think we're better off trusting a man who was part of a group that never left a trail for the police to follow?"

"Yeah, yeah," the man mumbled, rubbing his feet. Then, he reached over and carefully rolled up the sleeves of the sleeping postman. Under the sleeves were hollow, aluminum armbands with several valves lining the sides. The armband that Dark had hit was dented inwards, and it was apparent the force had popped the valves open so they would release the gas inside. "Man, so this thing is from Talon Four?"

"Hey, careful with touching that. You don't want to accidentally set that off or we're all going down," Smoker scolded from the driving seat.

"Heh. But only strong impacts will set it off, right?"

"Yeah, but we can't be too careful. The only reason Harrier had it was because Talon Four thought it was too stupid to hold onto."

"I think it's a good idea. I mean, if you know you're going to be beat up then you might as well have something that's going to take your opponent down with you."

"Idiot, that's why it's stupid; it's only for people who are going to go in knowing they don't have a winning chance. It's a kamikaze device. Talon Four isn't like that." Smoker sighed. "I kinda feel sorry for the kid though. Harrier hasn't been in a good mood ever since he's lost his legs." He looked at the road ahead sadly. "If I wasn't scared shitless of the guy I would've run far away from him a long time ago."

The rest of his group agreed.

XXXXXXXXXX

"Sir! It's Harrier, sir!"

"Hm? Is that you, Hawk? What is it?"

"I just heard that Harrier has planned a kidnapping."

"…Is that all?"

"Uh, what?"

"I said, 'Is that all?' If it's just a kidnapping then it's rather minor for something a kind of man like Harrier might do."

"Um, well, yes – "

"Hawk, do not bother me with petty details of the life of Harrier. I said I only wanted significant details."

"Sir, it's only a kidnapping _at the moment._ There are…rumors. I hear he's out for blood this time, but since it's only a rumor it's unreliable and – "

"Out for blood? Now that is significant."

"But sir, they're rumors and you know how unreliable rum – "

"Hawk, what did I say about being specific? The thing I like about you is that you come back to me with reliable facts, but the thing I don't like about you is that you disregard speculations because they're not reliable."

"Yes sir."

"Sometimes, speculations and rumors can be just as true. Do you know who he has targeted, and why?"

"Well sir, they're only rumors but – "

"Hawk…"

"Yes sir. This is what's interesting: I hear he is after the son of the man who he had a tangle with two years ago. The man from that incident, sir, which led to Harrier being dismissed from Talon Four."

"Indeed? How unlucky of him to go after this venture right when we arrive."

"And sir, another curious thing…"

"Hm?"

"Do you remember the name of the son?"

"I know I should, since it's my money that is paying for his property taxes and everything else; a compensation, if you will, for Harrier's actions. But an agent handles that for me and I have no interest in names. Why do you ask?"

"Well… the boy's name happens to be Link Petrov. It's exactly the same as our target's."

"What?! Are you telling me Mr. Petrov is the same person as the one who is going to be kidnapped?"

"Uh, no, I don't think so. I think it's just a coincidence, but I thought that was odd."

There was a loud sigh from Dugal's end. "Hawk, please make sure to filter out any irrelevant reports from now on. I do not care about the coincidences of names."

"I'm sorry sir. I just thought it was interesting."

"…Yes, I do admit it is interesting. Curious, even. However, interesting though it may be, it is irrelevant."

"Yes sir."

"Hmmm, well, keep a close watch on Harrier. If he does anything that might ruin our name, stop him."

"Yes sir. Sir, may I request backup?"

"Backup? Surely you can handle Harrier by yourself. The man's a cripple."

"Yeeesss, but he's still Harrier…"

"What is he going to do, roll you over with his wheelchair?"

"You overestimate me, sir, and underestimate Harrier. And he might roll me over with his wheelchair, sir."

"If that's true, then you are no longer needed by Talon Three. Come, come, Hawk, you are only put off by the difficulties we encountered by the Harrier of the past."

"He gave even you trouble, sir."

"False."

"…yes sir."

"Hm. In any event, keep a close eye on him and handle him as you see fit. If it leads to getting rid of him for good, then be quiet on how you go about it. The less attention we have the better."

"Yes sir."

"And Hawk?"

"Sir."

"You're right. Be careful around Harrier – he was our slash man after all."

"…Yes sir."

XXXXXXXXXXX

Dr. Willits gently tugged Skull Kid's hand to move him along to the main research area where his newest device was being set up. Things had been moving along steadily even after that event with those troublesome teens. Skull Kid, enjoying the attention he was getting from all the researchers, happily obliged and skipped after the lanky doctor. The boy played a beautiful Adagio as he hopped along, inciting a couple of his fire fairies to appear and follow after. Dr. Willits and the rest of his team had long since given up on telling Skull Kid what he can and cannot do, since the more rules they set the more he enjoyed breaking them. The doctors quickly learned that with Skull Kid, reverse psychology worked best.

Several researchers walking the halls scooted out of the way of the flitting balls of fire to avoid being burned. Skull Kid giggled, and ran ahead.

"Come this way. We tweaked your stage a little, Skull Kid." The doctor led the giggling boy over to the device. Skull Kid scrutinized it for a few minutes, and then a wide grin spread on his face.

"What will I get if I play a song this time?"

"That will depend on your performance, surely. Last time I answered you before hearing your song you played one note and left."

"Heehee, I surprised you, didn't I?"

"Yes, yes you did," the doctor replied tiredly.

"What if I said I won't play anything unless I knew what was in it for me?"

The doctor snapped his fingers towards his assistants by the computer monitors. He told them to ready an experimental run, and then plopped Skull Kid on the platform of the device with two tall pillars on both ends. Dr. Willits chuckled. "You sure are a difficult boy."

"So what's in it for me?" Skull Kid repeated. He blew a note on the Ocarina, causing an orb of fire to burst in the air next to him. He was surprised, however, when the six-winged orb didn't disappear when he stopped playing. "Huh?" His eyes widened, and then he noticed the doctor nodding his head satisfactorily.

"Good! It's working!" The doctor waved his hand towards his assistants again, and they changed a few parameters on the monitor. Upon doing so, the fire fairy disappeared again. Skull Kid squeaked.

"Wow that was so cool!" He would have looked like a normal, bubbly boy if it weren't for the glint in his cat-like eyes. "How did you do that?"

"It all has to do with this little stage," Dr. Willits tapped the platform Skull Kid was on with his foot. "Now are you interested in playing a song for us?"

"Yeah!" Skull Kid took a crooked bow and brought the Ocarina of Time to his lips. Just as he began to play, the doctor moved over to one of the computer monitors that were taking data. He watched the data points appear on the screen.

He fiddled with the edge of his coat. Things were progressing marvelously well, and he guessed it would only take a few more months for the initial runs would be complete. Skull Kid was getting better with the Ocarina every week, and he was adding new segments to his musical piece every time he played. The doctor was also able to see correlations – with every improvement the boy made on his song, the six-winged "fairies" would grow larger. The computer monitor also showed that there was a greater energy output from the orbs of fire as they increased in size.

He looked over to where Skull Kid was playing now. There were currently four fire fairies the size of a beach ball circling around. The doctor hesitated. He noticed there were fewer of them than before… did that mean that number was sacrificed for size? He checked the graphs on the computer again. Well, the energy output was far greater for four bigger ones than from the initial dozens of tiny ones.

"Dr. Willits, there's a message for you from Mr. Ganon." An assistant said quietly by his side. A flash of annoyance crossed the doctor's face from being interrupted.

"What is it?" He asked curtly.

"Mr. Ganon would be making a visit tomorrow. He wants to see the progress of project Avilux Ignis."

The doctor almost fell out of his chair. "H-he's coming? Here? _Tomorrow?_" he sputtered. Then, he glanced uneasily at Skull Kid playing.

"Yes."

"All… all right. Thank you."

The doctor sat in a slight daze. He had a somewhat creepy obsession with Ford Ganon, almost to the point of idolizing him like a god. At the same time, the man feared him. He only felt comfortable showing the progress with this project after he was sure it was completely fine. Besides, he just knew Skull Kid was going to cause trouble for his boss and the doctor was going to take the ultimate responsibility for whatever might happen.

Dr. Willits observed Skull Kid again. His eyes wandered over to the orbs of fire. _Their movements have changed,_ he noted with mild interest. When this project first began, those fire fairies had been flitting in an almost insect-like fashion. Now that they were bigger, however, they swooped around like vultures. Yes, 'swoop' was a good word to describe their movements…

Excited by the observations, the doctor wrote down a few notes in his notebook with a small smile on his face.

Next to him, his graduate research assistant made the same observations but was less ecstatic than the doctor. He had a sudden gut feeling that these fire fairies that had started off as lively, pretty things were something more sinister. Their wings flashed and flared, and though they never burned Skull Kid, they didn't hesitate to… attack… some of the assistants if they got too close. This occurrence had increased in frequency as they grew larger. The assistant wondered to himself what would happen when the numbers finally decreased to one. He hoped the doctor knew what he was doing.

XXXXXXXXX

Gale balanced on top of a half-rotten log in the middle of the forest. He munched on his sandwich he had packed with a flat expression that had "I told you so" written across his forehead. Zelda sat across from Gale with a disappointed look, and Link appeared frustrated. After a while, Link took a deep breath. "I know it has to be here…"

"Oh yeah, because everything you say is so right," Gale spat sarcastically.

Zelda rubbed her arms to keep away the chill, and then looked up at the sky. "We can probably look for another two hours or so before heading back. The forest will get dark really soon."

"Yeah…" Link sounded dejected. "I didn't think it would take this long to find it. I don't recognize anything about this place."

"I tell you, it doesn't exist!" Gale insisted.

"You and your pessimism, would you just shut up for once, Gale?" Zelda snapped, much to both boys' surprise. "Dark found a temple before. We can ask him to join us tomorrow." She stood up defiantly, grabbed a bewildered Link by the arm, and led him further towards the forest. Gale stared after them, mid-bite on his sandwich.

He was slightly peeved at first that she had spoken to him that way. His blood boiled, and he clenched his fist with a demented grin. Gale snickered as he followed after.

"Dear Nayru!"

Gale was almost knocked back when Zelda zipped towards him and gripped his arm tightly. He looked at the pretty girl holding onto his arm, back to Link who had his eyes on the ground with a troubled expression, and then back to the girl. He smiled broadly. "What, did he try to pull moves on you, dear?"

A flash of disgust appeared on Zelda's frightened face, but she continued to hold onto Gale. Now it was Gale's turn to become disconcerted. "What? Why are you holding onto me…?"

Zelda slowly relaxed her grip, but she was as white as sheets. Now Gale was genuinely disturbed, and he turned to Link for an explanation. "What was that?" he asked when Link mumbled something.

Link repeated again, quietly. "Suicide." He turned his head to Zelda sympathetically. "This is your first time seeing death, isn't it?"

Zelda nodded, and Gale frowned. "Death?" He took a step forward towards Link, and blinked when he saw a discolored pile of human bones just in the shade of a tree, with tatters of the person's clothes limply sagging over it. A long, slender sword was pierced through the skeleton's ribcage over the heart. "Ah…"

"This is the forest where people enter and never come back," Link mentioned. He stepped around the pile of bones, careful not to disturb it. "We'll probably see more like him, whoever he was… Dark did say that this forest was famous for its suicides."

The mood suddenly became somber. It reminded them that this was no ordinary forest; it had a creepy history behind it and it certainly wasn't a place people went to for family fun.

As Link walked away from the deceased, he thought he heard a faint clattering sound. He whirled around, only to come face to face with his two companions who appeared bothered by their earlier finding. Gale cocked his head questioningly, and Link peeked over their shoulders. The pile of bones was still a pile of bones.

He stared at it for a while longer before turning his heel and continuing onward. "…It's nothing." Link pinched the bridge of his nose. His past experiences with the Lost Woods was making him imagine the sound of the skeletal Stalfos. Imagination was a powerful thing – those bones hadn't made that clattering sound, and yet his ears had deceived him.

XXXXXXX

Dark groaned, and tried to open his eyes but found a cloth wrapped tightly over them. He tried to shout, but his voice came out as a muffle through another cloth wrapped over his mouth. A dull pain over his wrists and ankles, along with a slight numbing sensation from his legs from having them in the same position for so long, made him realize he was bound immobile.

_That's right! I was captured._

He still felt sluggish from the effects of the gas, and he had trouble remembering everything that had happened. Little by little, he recalled how he had fallen for the fake postman's wailing and had punched his arm to release the paralyzing gas. _Well, there's nothing I can do in this position_, Dark thought glumly. The more he struggled with the bonds around his wrists and ankles, the tighter they became until he worried they would cut off his circulation. Dark tried his best to calm down and think about his predicament instead.

He couldn't see anything because of his blindfold, but from the way the ground vibrated he could tell that he must be inside a car. There was also the dull thrum of an engine coming from below as well, confirming this idea. They were taking him somewhere, and he could hazard a guess that they were most likely taking him to meet Harrier himself.

Dark had some idea of what Harrier wanted; it was to hurt him or maybe even kill him. It was a wonderful prospect.

_How long have I been unconscious for?_ Dark wondered. Another bout of worry washed over him as he thought about how helpless he was with his hands and feet bound together. Trying to take his mind off of the worry, he began to plan out how he could possibly escape once his captors took him out of the car.

There was a rumble and a slow, heaving lurch as the car slowed down and turned into a driveway. Dark muffled an "ow" when he bounced and rolled inside the trunk, hitting his head against the side of the wall. He could hear his heart thumping when the car stopped and he heard the doors open.

_Now what?_

The doors slamming shut, he strained his ears and heard voices outside. He thought he recognized one of them as Smoker, the man from the gang he had beat up two years ago. They sounded just as panicked as he was at the moment, and he wondered why. As the trunk clicked open, bits of their conversation drifted through.

" – bad idea? Do you think Harrier would let us leave after we drop this guy off?"

"Oh don't be such a wuss! We haven't done anything to offend him."

"Yet."

"Hey stop that!"

They continued to argue, and Dark lay as still as he could, trying to gauge his options. He felt a hand pull him gruffly by the collar of his jacket and throw him unceremoniously onto the ground. Dark decided against struggling when he was dragged towards his destination, determining that putting up a struggle would result in unnecessary pain. It was better to save his energy for the actual leader of this whole business than on a couple of thugs.

Wincing every so often as his back scraped against the rocks on the ground, Dark patiently allowed his captors to pull him up the steps and inside a house.

"He's surprisingly obedient, isn't he," someone mentioned. Dark felt someone flick him on the face. "Or maybe he's not awake yet?"

Dark growled a warning through his gag, and the person who had flicked his face sounded amused. "Aw, he's awake and taking the abuse. What a good little wolfie."

Footsteps clicked along a polished floor, and for a moment Dark was relieved he wasn't being dragged across rough ground or carpet that would incite carpet burns. With a heave, his captor swung him across the floor and he skidded a few feet before rolling to a stop. Dark squirmed, trying to get into a more comfortable position.

"Show me his face."

Dark froze. He felt hairs stand up on the back of his neck when he recognized that voice. He would never forget that voice.

Light blinded him for a few seconds when his blindfold was forcefully ripped off of his face. He squinted a few times, adjusting his eyes, and then he felt someone come up behind him and twist his head up by his hair.

"Mmmf!" he protested through his gag. Then, he took a moment to look at Harrier.

Though the man was sitting in a wheelchair, he didn't look any less dangerous than before. His hands gripped the chair's wheels calmly, and his Talon suit was as sharp as when Dark had last seen him. Dark glared, and he met eyes with the man who had changed his life for the worse. That was when he noticed how chilling Harrier's eyes were – the left one was a normal brown, but the right was discolored to an off white, with the faint outline of a scar running across his eyelids. Dark didn't remember that from before…

Harrier gave a short smile. "Good work Kokuhai." He tilted his head towards the door without looking at the gang. "Take his gag off, and then leave."

They quickly obliged, and Dark gasped when his mouth was finally free of the gag. He grit his teeth when Harrier let out a hissing laugh.::

"You didn't follow your promise, wolf. Or should I say 'Dark?' I hear that's what you are called these days."

"What do you want?" Dark snarled.

Harrier rolled slightly closer and leaned forward in his wheelchair. They were in a high-ceilinged room that was dimly lit, and the shadows of guards moved along the floor above. Harrier flicked his right hand and a small blade suddenly appeared between his fingers. He spun it around slowly, letting Dark see every glint the metal made. "_You_ and your father are the reasons why I lost my legs," he said quietly, "and my right eye." Harrier abruptly stopped the knife from spinning, and then flicked his right hand again to reveal two knives. "I wasn't going to do anything to you since I'm a man of my word: if you had kept your promise to lose your identity I would have left you alone. However, now that you have broken your end of the deal," Harrier flicked his left hand and two more knives appeared for a total of four. Dark struggled furiously to sit up so he wasn't lying on his side anymore. Harrier continued in the same, even tone, "I'll make you pay, boy."

A bead of sweat rolled down the tip of Dark's nose: Harrier was far from a helpless cripple in a wheelchair.

* * *

Travel Log:

Aokigahara - Otherwise known as the Sea of Trees, or Jukai. Some guy wrote a book about it and named it Kuroi Jukai, or the Black Sea of Trees, and it was about all the disappearances and suicides that happen in this godforsaken forest. That sparked a suicide boom; it was the "cool thing to do" to go kill yourself in Aokigahara. People sure are weird. Anyways, this forest thrives on all the urban legends surrounding it. Like, they say that compasses fail to work due to a spastic magnetic field (totally false, by the way), or that cell phones and radios also stop working (another false rumor). It's a little disappointing though, when you learn that an almost mythically creepy forest turns out to be the product of a bunch of rumors of people disappearing. Yeah, rumors. People don't vanish here, they just go and die here. ...Well, I suppose I can understand how some people might get lost since it's a huge forest. And it's eerily quiet here, like there's no wildlife or anything; not even the sound of wind passes through because of the sheer density of trees. Yeah, this place gives me the creeps.  
But still, if people walk straight enough, won't they be able to find a way out of the forest? I mean, we haven't gotten lost yet so far... It's all rumors, right?

* * *

fleets: As much as I like my baddies, I can't find myself liking Harrier. At all. Prolly cause he's just psycho.

**Midna Hytwilian:** Yeah... Dark had a pretty crappy life with terrible luck. Not that he really could have done anything about it. Gale? Vaati? Or is it Gale? Who knows! (I sure don't). Sometimes I go back and reread the things I write about Gale, because he's actually "known" about Vaati since the Burger King chapter with Link - it's just all this time he's been in denial. ;)

**jioplip:** We'll see more of Harrier for sure in the upcoming chapter. And yeah, I'm surprised myself at how my updating has been - life is so dynamic, I never would have imagined I'd actually have time to write right now (shrugs). That question mark is well placed! I'm not sure how they feel about each other, or how honest they're being with themselves. It's what the reader makes of it; personally, I see Gale as having such huge commitment issues that as soon as it might become something real he bolts and becomes mean (er... meanER). We shall see! ;)

**Sapphiet: **I imagine Dark thought about all of his options, and realized how futile it would have been (considering how far he underestimated his opponent). He's also feeling a massive amount of guilt over his father's death, thinking that if he hadn't stuck his nose in something he shouldn't have, his father would still be alive. Oh yes, the bug! That will play a part for sure ;)**  
**

**xBlackDragoonx:** It's funny I never considered how there would be an "emo Dark Link" for every generation where there's no hero (and I wrote this story! O.o;). I think you're right - wow... that really does suck. Poor guy.

**TheSoupDragon: **Thanks! It took me some time to get to this point. There was a lot of explaining to be had :)**  
**

**Astral S. Kepeire: **Though I've never played OoT, I got the inspiration of Links' fight from what I've heard/read/seen about the water temple fight. Bingo! The goddesses DID make OoT Link look like what his modern counterpart should have looked like as a hero. So he has the same clothes, same looks, same skills (like lock picking), same everything except maybe attitude. Yeah, the Gale/Vaati conflict is coming up... and though I'm pretty sure about how it's going to play out I'm sure the chapter is just going to write itself when I start. Anything can happen, really, and for that I'm nervous about what's going to happen to poor Gale and/or Vaati.  
Go right ahead! I love getting fanart (who doesn't?) :D

Wow... you're right about the OCs. I remember I used to HATE using them with a passion. When I first started I tried to avoid using Opal, but she turned out to be too important in BC to ignore (I mean, no Opal and no plot). Now most of the cast are true OCs (i.e. Dugal, Talon Three, Harrier, etc) or half-OCs (i.e. Dr. Willits based off of Zant, Loze based off of Ezlo, etc). I guess it was unavoidable... :P

**henslight: **The idea of not being able to control your own destiny is indeed frightening. It's one of the main reasons why Gale is, to this date, terrified of openly admitting he's Vaati even though he knows Link is right. Nono, the kids aren't actually kokiri - their personalities were written with the kokiri in mind (sorry if I was misleading). As for chapter number, I think we have around six or more left. It could change though, so I'm not completely sure. **  
**

**Reily96: **Haha, feel free to see what you like - I'm giving readers the option of seeing romance or no romance. Uh... I hope Harrier doesn't remind you of someone in real life (that'd be frightening!). And you're right - Dark is about to find out just how horrible even cripples can be. And yay you updated! ;) **  
**

**Mirria1: **Whooo, Vaati! :D**  
**

**LinkxDarkLink: **Yuppers, this is/was the big plot thing I'd been planning for ages. I loved getting into Dark's backstory - one of the reasons why he's one of my current favorites! Though Gale/Vaati will always have a special place in my heart lol. Thanks!**  
**

**i-wish-a7x:** Your wish is granted - Dark will be a veeerrrry important character in this story. So essential, in fact, that I won't be able to write the ending without him. ;) Thank you!!!**  
**


	20. Talon to Talon

fleets: aaaah tired. sleepy time nao kthnx.

* * *

**Chapter 19: Talon to Talon**

Link, Zelda, and Gale stumbled out of the expansive forest just as the sky was getting dark. They had decided to turn back after having no luck in finding the temple, since none of them wanted to wander around the alleged Lost Woods at night. Disappointment was etched in all of their faces, and they dejectedly made their way to the nearest convenience store so they could find a payphone to call Dark.

"I don't know why we couldn't find it," Link muttered. He was the most distraught of the three, since he had been so confident that he would be able to find the temple without trouble. Zelda tried to console him, but she didn't know what to say.

Gale, on the other hand, had no qualms with his "I told you so."

"See? Nothing."

Link didn't argue this time, and he only nodded. He dropped a few coins into the payphone and punched some numbers, calling Dark to get him to help them find a ride home.

"I see that look on your face. You're still not going to give up, are you?"

Link shrugged.

Gale threw his hands up in the air. "Fine, fine. I'll try harder to find the ruins Dark was talking about tomorrow. If we see those, then will you drop this venture?"

Zelda bit her lip. "I wonder why we had trouble finding the ruins though. Don't you think it's strange that Dark said it was easy to find, and yet we couldn't find a trace of it after a whole day of searching?"

Link put the phone back down with a puzzled look on his face. Gale walked over.

"What's up? Is he getting us a ride?"

Link scratched his head. "Well… he's not picking up the phone."

The three of them exchanged glances. Dark had said he was going to stay home the entire day so he would be able to pick up the phone whenever they needed him. They hadn't discussed what they would do if he didn't pick up.

"Call again. Maybe he couldn't hear the phone," Gale suggested.

Meanwhile, a look of worry and then resolve passed Zelda's face, and she walked into the convenience store to talk to the person at the register. The two boys watched after her, wondering what she was up to. When Zelda returned, she asked Link, "So? Did he answer this time?"

Link hurriedly dropped coins into the payphone again. "Uh, hold on, I'm on it," he said apologetically. "What were you up to?"

Zelda put her hands on her hips, a thoughtful look crossing her face as she watched the stars appearing in the sky. Her crudely cut hair bobbed when she shook her head. "I just got this feeling that Dark wouldn't be sending us rides for us, and that it would be better if we took care of this ourselves." She pointed her thumb at the lady by the register who was calling a cab for them. "I asked her to help us get a taxi."

"That works," Gale shrugged. Link put the phone down, and likewise nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, no good again."

They walked inside the store to wait. Zelda picked up a few merchandise, tried to figure out what they were, and then put them back down again. Slightly agitated, she wondered aloud, "I wonder if anything happened to him."

Link smiled. "Nah. He's the gold wolf, remember? He can take care of himself fine."

XXXXXXXXXX

_Shhhhinggg!_

"…!"

Dark wrenched his head to the left when a knife that had been in Harrier's hand a moment ago flew by his ear. It clicked harmlessly on the floor and slid across the smooth floor. Still, even though he knew that he could dodge the blades with ease, Dark could feel his muscles tensing up. Smirking, Harrier casually threw another knife on his other side, and Dark dodged again.

"Good, good. I expected that much from you." The man in the wheelchair applauded. He considered the teen with his hands and feet bound with his good eye. Twirling the remaining two knives between his fingers, he asked, "Do you know what makes me upset?"

Dark only glared, and Harrier continued.

"I hate the fact that people like you and that fool Dugal, people who are less capable than I am, are the reasons why I'm like this," he waved his arms towards his paralyzed legs. "It's not fair."

"Life's not fair," Dark growled.

Harrier shook his head. "No, no it's not. But sometimes, we stumble across good fortune. Like today, for instance." He suddenly swung his arms across in an arc. Dark sat stock still, and he felt something trickle along both sides of his cheeks. Behind him, two soft tinkling sounds came from where the blades had landed. A dull burning sensation surfaced from where he had been grazed. "You broke your end of the deal, so I'm free to do with you as I please."

"Deal? What deal? I never made one with you!" Dark spat. "You didn't care about any deals in the first place anyway!"

"You followed what I asked and got rid of that hero act," Harrier replied as-a-matter-of-factly. "I may be vile, but we of Talon Four do have some integrity."

Dark struggled against his bonds. "Integrity?" He mouthed quietly. He repeated a second time, a little louder. "Integrity? You bastards killed my father and he had _nothing to do with this!_"

"Oh, but he did. He was snooping around where he shouldn't have been so we had to pack him up."

"So you admit it then. You killed him." Dark's hands trembled. He had finally heard the answer he had been waiting for, and it wasn't any less bitter now than if he had never known.

"Yes I admit it. Not that this is going to matter since you'll be dead by the end of the day." A sadistic grin appeared, and his hands twitched, revealing four more knives. "For every day I have suffered from this humiliating handicap, I will slowly cut you until you drown in your own blood."

"I'll kill you." Even so, Dark had no idea how he was going to get out of this situation. _Damn him. Where do all those knives come from?_ Dark gritted his teeth.

"Some fancy sleight of hand," Harrier nodded, answering his question. "When your opponents see something they can't figure out, it makes you seem more frightening."

Dark sneered at this explanation. "Heh. No wonder Talon Three wanted to get rid of you – you talk so much."

Harrier's previously calm expression broke, and a vein pulsed on the side of his head. Dark had to admit it was a little frightening to be sitting helpless in front of a man who was leering at him with an almost psychopathic hatred. At the same time, it gave him indescribable pleasure knowing he was making Harrier upset.

"I will tell you what my next throw is going to be," Harrier said venomously, "and I'm going to give you the freedom to choose how you will be hit."

"Well isn't that nice…" Dark muttered.

"Four knives. One, I will aim at your head. Two, your chest. The third and forth will be just next to your ears. You understand how this will go, don't you?"

Dark grimaced. There was no way he could get out of this without earning a near fatal wound. If he stayed where he was, he would be stabbed between his eyes and his chest. If he dodged to either side, he would have some part of his body grazed or stabbed and some part of his face would have a piece of metal sticking out of it. If he ducked downwards, again, he would be stabbed in the face. At this point, Harrier was giving him the choice of sudden death or a gruesome, torturous struggle to stay alive. His one good option would be to fall over so that he was lying down, but…

"Chk." There was a small click, and Harrier tutted. "The floor behind you looks a little painful, don't you think?" Spikes had risen from the floor panels just behind him.

_Well there goes that…_ Dark thought. He felt himself begin to panic. _Shit, what do I do?_

Harrier appeared to be enjoying Dark's reaction. He clicked the blades in his hands together and twirled them, getting ready for the throw. "It seems you have come to realize how serious your predicament is." He cocked both wrists back, the metal glinting in the faint light of the room. "You can judge a person's real nature by how they spontaneously react when their life is on the line. Let's see if you are as brave as they say you are. How afraid are you of death?"

Dark urgently twisted his wrists and legs, no longer caring about how the bonds would dig deeper into his skin every time he tried to loosen them. He felt his skin scraping away from the rough cord. He grit his teeth and froze, seeing the blades flying towards him in slow motion. He could see every terrifying detail of the weapons as they approached, two on his sides, one to his chest, and one straight to his head.

There was a thudding noise. Dark felt a sharp pain between his eyes, and his vision blurred as he heard the ringing sound of Harrier's sickening laughter.

XXXXXXXX

"He's not home."

The trio stood in the middle of Dark's home, dumbfounded. They had been calling his name and had each gone through the house to find him, but Link's present-day twin was nowhere to be found.

"Something's not right," Gale muttered. His head tilted to the side, he stalked back over to the doorway and crouched, looking for something on the ground. Link joined him to see what he was doing. "I'm looking for evidence," Gale explained when Link came over.

"Of what?"

"Of a struggle." Sticking low to the ground, Gale began to carefully trace over the ground in search of something unusual. "I can't stop thinking about what that gang told us earlier about Harrier. That creep might have actually done something to Dark."

"I didn't want to say that out loud," Link admitted, "because Dark reassured us that Harrier wouldn't be able to do anything. At the same time, I was also thinking Harrier might be involved in his disappearance."

Gale cursed under his breath. "I don't even know if I'll find any leads. He used to be from Talon Three, and according to rumors those guys never screw up."

Link shuffled around in his pockets and pulled out a small flashlight. "Here." A tiny circle of light illuminated the ground where the street lights couldn't reach. The two uncharacteristically worked together to find any clues as to what may have happened to Dark. After some time, they turned their ears towards the faint footsteps of Zelda. She appeared by the doorway with one hand over her mouth and the other holding a note.

"This was on the refrigerator."

Gale stood up and took the note, reading it aloud. A heavy tension came over them after they heard Dark's message. "Wait 24 hours for me. If I'm not back by then, leave this village immediately. It's too dangerous."

XXXXXXXXX

There was dizziness and pain. And voices. Dark heard voices. He tried to make sense of them, but the pain was distracting. The space between his eyes was throbbing and threatening to split open. Dark almost laughed – considering he had been stabbed with a knife on his head, his mind was thinking surprisingly well. He could even distinguish two voices now, and they were gradually becoming clearer as time progressed.

_Weird. _

Something was obscuring his vision. His field of view was slightly blurry, and there was a large black blob in front of him. The blob was blocking the two speakers, and it annoyed him. Dark leaned forward to try to get the black blob to move.

_WHAP._

"Ow!"

Dark grimaced when his head hit something in front of him and ricocheted backwards. Shaking his head, he tried to clear his vision. His eyes widened when he realized the black blob he had been looking at was the back of a large, leather swivel chair that was lying on its side. He had hit one of the plastic legs when he had leaned forward. "Wha…?"

Harrier's insanely happy laughter brought his attention away from the swivel chair that had magically appeared in front of him. It was apparent that he hadn't died, unless this was some cruel joke of Hell. His vision finally clearing, he saw that his hands and feet were still bound, he was still in Harrier's personal torture room, and one of the knives that were supposed to have hit him was lying harmlessly off to the side. Dark glanced at the chair in front of him again. The chair must have protected him from the rest of the knives…

"This is just too good! Do you know how long I have waited for you fools to show up again?"

It was Harrier's voice, all right. But if he wasn't talking to Dark, whom was he talking to? And where did this chair come from anyways?

Harrier continued. "Is Dugal here? Or were you the only one who cared enough about me to pay a visit?"

_Dugal from Talon Three? _Dark was suddenly fully awake, and he wiggled to the side to get a clearer view of who the other person was. It was a sleepy eyed, almost boyish looking man with light blond hair. He was in Talon Three's signature uniform: a simple black suit with a blue tie.

Hawk took a momentary glance at Dark who had accidentally toppled onto the ground, and then returned his cautious gaze back to his former team member. He addressed Dark without looking at him. "I apologize for having the chair hit you squarely in the face. I judged that was a better alternative than the knives."

Harrier leaned back in his wheelchair, amused. "That was quite a frantic throw you did from the upper floor, Hawk. But it seems like you still don't have the finesse to match even Condor. I'd call that messy."

With a slightly offended frown, Hawk straightened his tie. "My aim was still perfect. And you're one to talk – you were the one who was kicked out."

"Touché."

Dark watched the exchange with mild confusion. Hawk saved him? Why would Talon Three want to save him? If this didn't have anything to do with them, then they wouldn't have bothered to get involved. Had Harrier been under surveillance? "Why is Talon Three here?"

"It's none of your concern," Hawk shrugged. "I have matters with Harrier and you just happened to be here."

Harrier leaned forward in his seat. "But the boy is right, Hawk. What business do you have with me, and why did you need to take out all of my guards? I thought Dugal was no longer interested in my affairs?"

"We decided to check up on how you were doing, and making sure you weren't using Talon's name for your business." With a single, smooth movement, Hawk pressed something on his wristwatch and caused a small needle to shoot. It hit Harrier's leg. "I see you haven't been able to get rid of your connections with Talon Three, even going so far as to use its name in front of a denizen you were threatening. Therefore, we deem it necessary to silence you before you cause any more damage to our name."

Harrier's grip tightened on the arms of his chair. It was difficult to see his expression in the dim light, and his head was tilted down to see the needle sticking out of his leg. Dark figured it was some sort of sedative or even worse, a poison. Just what kind of world had he gotten himself into?

The paralyzed man's shoulders shook. At first Dark thought it was because of anger, but then he realized that the man was laughing. It was a chilling sight.

"You had me worried for a second there, Hawk," the man sneered. "Is that one of Kestrel's gadgets?"

Hawk's face betrayed no emotion, but from the slight shift in weight, it appeared the man was disconcerted by Harrier's reaction. Hawk's brows briefly twitched.

Harrier bent down and gently grabbed the needle and pulled it out of his leg. He observed it between his fingers, and then tossed it behind him. "I'm lucky your aim isn't as good as Dugal's. Or did you mean to hit me in the leg since my paralysis limits my movements, and therefore makes it harder for me to avoid things?" He grinned. "You're wondering why I'm still able to talk to you, yes?"

Hawk nodded slowly. Meanwhile, behind him, Dark slowly inched his way towards the knife that was lying on the ground a few feet away. He let Harrier's voice drone on in the background, occasionally listening out of curiosity.

"You should thank your dear master, Hawk. After I became paralyzed, I didn't see any use for my legs."

Hawk's eyes widened. "You cut them off…" his voice trailed away.

"Prosthetic. Little tricks like the one you pulled earlier won't work on me." With a demented grin, Harrier flipped his hands and revealed eight knives. "Now, will you tell me where the others are? It's hard to believe you came alone to take me down. Is Dugal here? I've been waiting for him."

Dark reached the knife. He was about to grab it between his teeth, but then stopped when he realized how quiet it had become in the room. Harrier sat waiting patiently for Hawk to answer, while the other man stood collectedly in the face of eight knives pointed in his direction. Finally, Harrier sighed.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?"

"No. Real Talon members are not quite so talkative like you."

That seemed to strike a nerve with Harrier, and one-eyed man threw a knife his way. Hawk was ready, and he barely managed to avoid the shot by stepping quickly to the side. Harrier's good eye narrowed. "Hmph. I suppose it doesn't matter whether or not they're here. All that matters is that I have one of them in my grasp. I'll just take you all down one by one until I'm the only one left." He threw another knife, and again, Hawk dodged. "I'll show you what expert aim is."

Harrier's knives flew through the air. Sometimes they would come in singles, and other times doubles or triples. Dark kept a nervous eye on them after the first few nearly hit the place where he was lying, but after a while, he saw that Hawk had maneuvered some distance away so that he was no longer in the line of fire. Relaxing somewhat now that he was out of immediate danger, he watched the two Talon members carefully. Harrier was missing all of his shots, and Dark wondered if it was because Hawk was too good at dodging or if it was deliberate on Harrier's part. Something fishy was going on, but he couldn't place a finger on it. He felt himself want to warn Hawk, but he didn't know what he would warn him about. After all, Hawk should know Harrier better than he did…

"Another fault you had," Hawk dodged a flying knife, "was your tendency to toy with targets like you're doing now."

Harrier paused. "Toy? You think I'm toying with you?"

"Your throwing arm is a lot better than this."

Dark silently agreed.

The paraplegic chuckled. "Oh I see. Yes, yes you're right. The old Harrier would have toyed with you until the last two shots to take you out. That would be risky. Though you're not even close to my level, I know you've been waiting for me to run out of shots to make your move and I don't want to underestimate a fellow Talon member." His hand shifted back along the armrest of the wheelchair, revealing a small remote embedded in it. "But to think I haven't learned from past mistakes… Hawk, you really do insult me. I've been serious with you from the start."

Realization came over Hawk, and he abruptly jerked to the side. He was forced to stop his movements, however, when a blade cut through his path.

"Too late." Harrier pressed a number combination on his remote. Before Hawk could do anything, two daggers shot down from above to where he was standing.

"Tch!" Hawk grimaced, falling on his knees. Dark was impressed by how quickly the man had been able to get out of the way, but he still hadn't been fast enough to avoid the daggers completely. One had cut up his arm, and the other his leg, pretty badly. "You drew me here…"

"Indeed. Making you dance your way over there was elementary."

Dark couldn't believe it. Rigged rooms? This was getting more nightmarish by the second. He didn't waste time grabbing the knife on the ground with his teeth, and carefully attempted to cut away the rope around his wrists. _I have to get out of here._

Hawk glanced up on the roof. It was difficult to tell what it was like up there since there wasn't enough light to see, but he was sure there were dozens of blades rigged up above to shoot down on certain places down below. He slowly picked up a fallen dagger by his side, careful not to let Harrier notice. His downfall was going to be the fact that every time a nonlethal shot was made, Harrier was giving his opponents weapons of their own. "You should have stuck to bullets," Hawk said flatly. He threw the dagger towards Harrier.

What he hadn't expected, but should have, was that Harrier lazily guarded himself by throwing one of his own to make it collide with Hawk's. The two blades dropped to the ground with a clang before reaching the target. "Guns are illegal in Japan, so using bullets would have made the after cleanup a little riskier. Much easier to identify, should authorities come asking. Besides, I'm confident you can't touch me with my own best weapon of choice." Harrier pressed another combination on the remote. Hawk suppressed a painful shout when one hand was pinned to the floor by a blade and another struck his shoulder. "Mmm, you're not looking so good there, Hawk. Whatever happened to Dugal's Invisible Eye? I've got you stuck on the floor."

Dark finally managed to free himself from the bonds. Rubbing his wrists, he grabbed the knife in his hands and laid down in a cautious crouch. Harrier noticed, and he waved his hand over to the teen.

"Don't think I've forgotten about you. If you don't want this to be any harder for you than it has to, then you'll wait until I finish with this fool here."

Clenching the knife, Dark moved over to the fallen swivel chair. He didn't say anything – Hawk had a good point about speaking too much to the enemy. From Harrier's chatter earlier, Dark had analyzed that his current position was safe from the ceiling rigs; that was why Harrier had to get Hawk to move somewhere else. Righting the chair, he rested his knee on top of it with the chair's back facing Harrier so that it acted as a shield. His eyes glanced up at the ceiling, and then focused on the two Talon Three men. _This might be a little risky, but what else can I do?_ Making sure Harrier couldn't see what he was doing behind the chair, Dark quickly set up the rope and claw he had in his jacket pocket to make his claw shot.

Hawk noticed what Dark was doing from his angle. He didn't know what Dark was planning to do, but from the way the boy was quickly working on his setup he figured he had some idea on taking down Harrier. Wincing, he gripped the dagger that had gone through his left hand and pulled it out, and did the same for the one in his right shoulder. Saying it hurt was the understatement of the year, and he knew that with his injuries, he wasn't going to stand a chance with Harrier. The least he could do was keep the bastard's attention off of Dark.

Hawk slowly stood up and ripped his tie from his neck. Tightly tying it around his injured hand to suppress the bleeding, he shot a quick and knowing look towards Dark before reaching into his jacket and pulling out a gun. "Forget about him, Harrier. I won't be finished for a long time."

Harrier eyed the gun disdainfully. "Really. A gun. Your shoulder is busted and you know better than I do that I can take out that hand any time I want. You're getting desperate. I also know that you won't shoot me if you can help it, since bullet wounds leave evidence that's difficult to erase. Empty threats won't work on me."

Behind the little shield, Dark blinked. He had seen the look Hawk give him earlier, and had understood the underlying message: "I'll be the distraction so you go do your part." Dark gripped the rope tightly in his right hand, and with the knife in his left, he took aim near Harrier's bad eye hoping the man's reaction time would be slower because of it. _I just need him to turn a little bit more away…_

Hawk took a step forward with his gun pointed at Harrier. As soon as he did so, a dagger hit him squarely in the chest.

"Mm, I was expecting that to have no effect since you people always wear bulletproof vests. Oh well, it was worth a try," Harrier drawled, somewhat disappointed.

Suddenly, Hawk flipped one of the daggers on the floor with the tip of his shoe and kicked it towards Harrier. It didn't do much, since the thing flopped awkwardly and bounced harmlessly off of Harrier's knee.

The distraction, however, was enough for Dark.

"NOW!" Hawk barked.

The teen threw his knife as hard as he could towards Harrier's blind side.

"Why you little…" Harrier threw a knife towards the one that was coming towards him, blocking its progress, and threw another at the same time towards Hawk's leg. It pierced Hawk above the knee, grounding him to a writhing bundle on the floor. Harrier, however, was not ready for the claw shot that swung past him and caught the arm of his wheelchair. "What?!"

Dark yanked on the rope, causing his swivel chair and the wheelchair to approach each other. "Thanks! We'll get you fixed up after this is over!"

From the momentum the two chairs rolled towards each other with their respective riders. Dark was slightly nervous, as he hadn't really thought about what he'd do once he had managed to get Harrier in closer range. He was rightfully nervous, since as soon as Harrier had rolled closer, the man reached inside his jacket for more throat cutting blades.

"Ugh!" Dark quickly grabbed him by the wrists before he could do anything. Harrier, however, was strong, and it took him everything he had to keep the blades in each hand away from his face.

Harrier's eyes narrowed. Even though his arms were shaking from the strain against Dark's, his expression was cool. He slowly looked up at the ceiling, and then at the remote that was just by his elbow. Dark felt chills when he realized what Harrier was planning to do.

"Nice try, but it wasn't good enough," Harrier gave a ruthless grin, carefully punching in a combination on the remote with his elbow.

The air hissed as daggers flew through the air.

_Thud!_

Blood trickled down the side of Dark's cheek and down along his shoulder. Panting heavily, he kept a tight grip on Harrier who was watching him with utter shock.

"…What?" The man rasped. The dagger that he had intended to hit Dark had instead hit him on the crown of his head. Harrier spasmed and his muscles weakened.

Dark slowly let him go, and fell back on his chair. At the last minute, he had pulled Harrier, knives and all, towards him. The left side of his face had been scraped up, as well as his shoulder that had taken a direct hit with the other knife. Still, he was alive and if he hadn't done that, he would have ended up like Harrier now.

"I'm… not… done yet," Harrier gurgled. Dark jumped back in surprise – how the freak was still managing speech was beyond him. He must have an incredible amount of will power. "You… I'll take you all down… with me…"

_Uh oh. That's not what I wanted to hear. _Dark skidded as far away from Harrier as possible, expecting the worst. He watched Harrier cautiously when the man pressed one last combination on the remote that was in the arm of the wheel chair.

"This was… meant to be for… Dugal." With that, Harrier's eyes rolled and he finally fell dead. Seconds later, Dark heard all the doors lock shut and steel shields fell down over the windows to prevent escape. An ominous hissing sound was heard, which could only mean one thing: they were going to be gassed to death.

Dark flinched when he felt a hand grip his shoulder tightly. Hawk had limped over and had cut a piece of his suit for a makeshift mask. Grabbing a dagger off the floor, Dark did the same with the bottom of his shirt.

"Remain calm. Panicking will make you breathe this poison faster," Hawk said stiffly. Dark could tell he was trying his best to follow his own advice, because it was one freaking hard advice to follow in this situation.

"The doors are locked," Hawk stated simply. He coughed when he accidentally breathed in some of the fumes.

Dark dashed towards the doors, grabbing his lock picking set as he did so. When he reached the door, his heart sank; there were no keyholes, and it appeared to be locked electronically. It took his all not to let full panic set in, but it was difficult to do since, with every second that passed they were coming closer to their deaths.

Their only consolation was that the gas was slow to act. The room was spacious, and it was taking some time for it to permeate through the entire room. As long as they took minimal breaths and tried not to breathe as much as practically possible, they could last for another six minutes.

_Joy._

"CLANK." Dark jumped when a dagger fell inches from his feet. He saw Hawk by the dead Harrier, fiddling with the buttons on the remote with a stern look on his face. Dark suppressed his urge to shout at the Talon Three member, recognizing that yelling would only expedite his end.

Hawk continued to look at the remote. "Sorry," he mentioned, and then explained, "if the doors are closed with this remote, then there's a chance it can be opened with this as well."

Dark ran over to Hawk, and began to look through the numerous numbers on the pad with him. It was daunting – they had all of six minutes to go through all the thousands of combinations to free the lock, and any incorrect ones would result in weapons falling from the sky. Even in the face of this impossibility, Hawk continued to quickly punch in numbers, not even flinching when the daggers started raining around the various parts of the room.

"This is hopeless," Dark said heavily. He was already beginning to feel the effects of the gas, and knew that he didn't have much time left. Hawk was making some mistakes in entering the numbers as well, repeating sequences he'd already made. Slightly calm in the face of death now that he had come to terms with it, Dark picked up the dagger between the dead Harrier's fingers and turned it over in his hands.

He turned to Hawk again, who was relentlessly entering combinations into the remote. The man stubbornly kept going, despite the fact that he was light headed from loss of blood and from the effects of the poison gas.

Just then, something hit Dark. It was a crazy idea, and Hawk would probably kill him if it didn't work, but that didn't matter since if it didn't work they'd be dead anyway. "Stop!" Dark gagged, and then fell into a fit of coughing. He pressed the cloth covering his face tighter against his mouth, and then brought the dagger up.

"What are you doing?" Hawk asked, surprised. Before he could do anything, Dark had shoved him away from the remote.

"There's no time – _coughcoughcough – _just move!" With that, Dark jammed the dagger straight into a small crack just above the number pad of the remote. The crack splintered, and then broke, revealing a button beneath it that had been pierced by the dagger.

There was a puff of air swishing somewhere up above, and then there was a soft "_thock_" as a dagger hit a crest of a small red eye that was glowing faintly far above the main doors. The eye closed shut, and the bolts on the door clanked open.

Dark jerked Hawk forward, giving him a shoulder to lean on as they dashed towards the door. They crumpled outside, gasping for air and crawling away from Harrier's terrifying room.

Blood caking over their wounds and complexion pale from near asphyxiation, the two survivors looked like a pair of zombies. Hawk sprawled across the frosted ground outside, not caring about the chills biting his cheeks. He pressed the communicator clipped to his ear and made a short call to Dugal requesting help. Then, he flopped down and closed his eyes.

"Hey," he spoke, his eyes still closed. Dark barely raised his head from where he was lying in the snow.

"Mm?"

"…Nice work."

"Ha, thanks. You too."

The two lost consciousness from exhaustion soon after.

XXXXXXXX

Dugal frowned. He rarely had to worry about the safety of his team, but Hawk had sounded like he was in a bad state. Another part of the conversation had bothered him as well.

"_Sir."_

"_Ah, Hawk. What is the report?"_

"…_Requesting assistance, sir."_

"_Assistance? …Hawk, are you all right? You sound weak."_

"_Assistance… please… sir…"_

"_All right, I'll go there right away. Where are you?"_

"_Harrier."_

"_You clashed? Is he still there?"_

"_Dead… sir…"_

"_Alright. I expect to hear what happened when you're in better condition."_

"…_Sir."_

"_?"_

"_Sir I… I'm out."_

What in Nayru's name had happened that would cause Hawk to pull out of this assignment? Out of all the years he had led Talon Three, no one had ever gotten so hurt that they had been forced to take a break.

Dugal stepped into his car and pressed the gas. It was times like these when being able to drive really fast came in handy.

XXXXXXXXX

Dark groggily opened his eyes, blinking at the sunlight peeping through the windows. Scrunching his brows, he realized he was no longer outside in the winter cold, but was in a modest room under the covers of a bed. His felt absolutely terrible from all the injuries he had accumulated. Someone had wrapped several bandages around all of his injuries and had cleaned his wounds.

"Good morning. Glad to see you're awake."

A voice greeted him cheerfully, and Dark slowly sat up to see who the speaker was. A man with a purple tie was leaning casually against the doorframe.

Dugal took his glasses off and began to wipe them with a cloth he pulled out from his pocket. "Mr. Petrov, I presume? You were lucky you had no severe injuries."

"It's Dark," Dark said flatly. Then, "Where's the other man?"

"You mean Hawk? He's in the next room over. He was badly cut up, but it's nothing he can't handle. He'll be fine."

Dark nodded. "He saved my life back there. Tell him I said thanks."

"I will."

There was a pause in the conversation, and Dark gave Dugal long, cold look. "You're the guy who leads Talon Three, aren't you." It was more of a statement than a question.

"And if I am?" Dugal continued to wipe his glasses.

"Your guy Harrier killed my father two years ago. I hope you know that."

"And I'm extremely sorry about his actions. I fired him soon after I heard about what he'd done. I've also been handling your property taxes and those little expenses."

"That doesn't make anything any better you bastard! I heard about what you guys do, and you're no better than Harrier."

Dugal put his glasses back on and looked at Dark curiously. "What have you heard?"

"That you're a group for hire to do less than legal work. Like making people disappear."

"All of these rumors, yet not a speck of evidence." Dugal sounded amused. "So you can't possibly know if they're true or not." He walked over to the window. He smiled pleasantly. "Goodness, I believe I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Halstead Dugal, but you can just call me Dugal. Would you like something to eat or drink, by the way?"

Dark didn't like the smile. It didn't seem sincere, and right after his experience with Harrier, he didn't feel comfortable with overconfident smiles. "Where are we?" he asked flatly.

"We're still in Fujikawaguchiko," Dugal replied. His smile explained he wasn't going to divulge anything more.

Dark dropped the bed covers onto the floor, and swung his legs around to the side. He jumped down, rubbing his injured arms as he did so. "I'm leaving," Dark declared.

Dugal bowed politely. "Goodbye." The man watched Dark slowly walk out of the room, keeping an eye on him with suspicion. Dugal chuckled. "You're looking at me like you think I'm going to stop you."

"You're not?"

"No. Why would I?"

"Then why did you bring me here?"

Dugal shook his head. "Is it that strange if I help an injured person?"

"You could have taken me to a hospital."

"Mmm, that would cause complications. You know, questions would be asked."

Dark's eyes narrowed. "For what reason are you guys here again?" He tensed when Dugal walked over and put an arm around his shoulder in a fake friendly gesture.

"Haha, you sure like asking questions. You might be as bad as the authorities." Dugal gave a warning squeeze on Dark's injured shoulder, causing the teen to wince. "Haven't you learned your lesson regarding sticking your nose in other people's business?"

Dark ripped the man's hand off of his shoulders. He glared, and then began to walk quickly towards the exit. Just as he reached the door, Dark stopped abruptly. He spoke slowly as he remembered something.

"You're following Link and his friends…" Dark whirled around, accusation apparent in his voice.

Dugal continued to keep his insincere grin. "The other Mr. Petrov? You're familiar with him as well?" The light glinted off of Dugal's glasses.

Dark gritted his teeth, and then dashed out of the house as fast as he could.

"It was nice meeting you, Dark," Dugal waved at the door slamming shut. With his hands behind his back, he strutted to the room Hawk was resting in, and moved over to the desk with a lone laptop. Opening it, he executed the Argos satellite-tracking program and watched two dots in the Fujikawaguchiko area. He nodded satisfactorily. The more people connected to Link he put markers on, the easier it would be to keep track of him. Things were going so smoothly, and they had even gotten rid of Harrier for him.

Yes, things were going very smoothly indeed.

* * *

Travel Log: Hey, we're awfully busy looking for Dark now so none for you.

* * *

fleets: The focus shifts to Dark this time, so not too much on Gale/Vaati, Link, and Zelda. Next chappie should have them back again. And yeah, Hawk and Dugal might've seemed like the good guys for a little bit until after Harrier was taken care of. They're definitely NOT on Link's side :P

Also, in case you didn't catch it, the way Dark and Hawk escaped was an attempt to reference the way Link usually escape boss dungeons: by using the weapon/item dropped or found in the boss room. In this case, it was Harrier's remote. You guys remember those eyes you have to shoot with arrows to open switches in the Zelda games, right? ;)

**Reily96:** Oh yes, TS. I like TS better exactly because he's more into abuse than outright killing. I don't like Harrier at all, since he's the creepiest character I've created so far.  
I was debating who I should make Zelda run to. For some reason it made more sense to have her run to Gale.  
DX now I'm all curious!

**Midna Hytwilian: **Oh wow... thank you O.o**  
**

**henslight: **Don't worry, Dark's safe :)**  
**

**LunaticEyesInaba: **Yeah, this story is pretty darn different from BC and TU. Ahaha, you're right, Ford Ganon does look like a typo. XD**  
**

**i-wish-799: **whooo, Dark's ok! for now... hehehe**  
**

**xBlackDragoonx: **And they're still having trouble finding the temple. Poor Link/s, it's never easy for them.**  
**

**Sue Axel: **Meh, Harrier's too psycho for me, but I can also see how he can potentially be 'cool.' Dunno if this chapter changed your opinion any, though (he's my creepy character). XD Yes, it is slightly apparent and intentionally so. Oh wow a cookie CAKE? That sounds yummy :)**  
**

**Sapphiet: **Oh Dugal and his mom... even the bad guys have parents - you gotta wonder what they were like. Well, I didn't know you changed your pen name; I just copy the names that appear on the reviewer section as I see them. I can only guess what your previous pen name was before you changed it :)**  
**

**SubZeroChimera: **Nope! And he escapes one bad situation to get into another possibly bad one :P**  
**

**LinkxDarkLink: **hehe, I was wondering if anyone would notice the reference. **  
**

**Astral S. Kepeire: **Ah, I don't think I made that very clear: the "fairies" are bigger and more powerful because the song is more complete. Wahh, sorry about the cliffhanger! Yah... Harrier freaks me out too. He's got to be the creepiest character I've ever created.  
Oh... the thing is I have a dumb Mac and they don't have any good emulators for those. Next time I get a computer, I'm NOT getting a Mac (shakes fist).  
Oooh, let me know if you ever scan them! :)  
Aw, thanks! I'm relieved the OCs are working out so far and aren't overwhelming the "fanfiction" part of this story.**  
**

**Vaati the wind mage1: **Thank you! Gale seems to be popular :)**  
**


	21. Bringing Back the Past

**Chapter 20: Bringing Back the Past **

"Holy… Dark!"

Loud clattering accompanied rushing footsteps towards Gale's voice by the doorway, the morning sun framing their silhouettes. The albino himself had quickly lent a hand towards a stricken looking Dark who had tottered inside. A barrage of questions hounded the Link lookalike as they made their way to somewhere where the teen could sit down.

"Where were you? And those bandages, what happened? Are you ok?" Link asked.

"We were worried sick about you," Zelda added. "You were gone all night, and you'd also left that message…"

Dark returned a blank, exhausted expression. Tiredly, he waved them all away. "I'm fine." He plopped down on the tatami, and covered his face with his good arm. "Tired. Saw Harrier, the creep." There was an exclamation, and more questions were asked. Dark rolled over irritably.

"Look, chill out. He tried to kill me, but he's dead now."

There was shocked silence. Someone, probably Zelda, whispered "Oh my goddess."

Dark flinched from his injuries, and rubbed them with an annoyed frown. He wasn't happy that he was hurt, and he was becoming more irked that three people he had just met yesterday were depriving him of rest. In a matter-of-fact tone, he quickly began to summarize what had happened in hopes that they would leave him alone.

"Basically, you guys left, Harrier's goons caught me, the psycho tried to kill me, and he ended up dying. One of the guys from Talon Three helped me when I was about to be stabbed in the face, and his boss picked both of us up and took care of our injuries until this morning. I didn't trust Talon Three either, so I left, called a cab, and came back home."

Gale's cheek twitched at the sound of Talon Three. He crossed his arms over his chest. "We should have expected it, but I don't like the fact Talon Three managed to follow us this far. I'm sure we're the only reason why they're here in the first place."

"Yeah I talked to Dugal, and it seemed like you guys were the reason why those mother f –" Dark paused, and then he sat up abruptly, which caused him to wince again. He resisted their efforts to sit him back down, pushing them away angrily. "Shit, we have to get you guys out of here." He went over to the kitchen to take a quick drink of water, and then tossed the three's belongings towards the door. "Those guys are in this town and they're out to get you. Dugal probably knows where you guys are, so you have to keep moving before he makes his move."

"Whoa whoa, slow down there buddy." Gale grabbed his wrist and stopped him. "If Dugal wanted to catch us earlier, I'm sure he could have done so a long time ago. I say we don't have anything to worry about in the immediate moment."

Link agreed. "Gale's right. Dugal makes me nervous, but for some reason he let me go earlier when he could have caught me. He's waiting for something – we just have to be careful when he decides to act."

"You guys have to _move_!"

"Hey, Dark, you're still freaking out from whatever happened with you and Harrier. Just relax and breathe for now – "

"And I'm saying you guys are underestimating Talon Three!" Dark snapped. He sighed, and then started over more gently, "Look, you can't make plans thinking you're ahead of their game. You might think you have them figured out, but you don't. You just don't have the same experience as they do." He showed them his several cuts that had been wrapped. "I thought Harrier would be harmless after he'd been paralyzed, but look what he managed to do to me. He'd set up his house so that the roof would rain blades, and even as he was about to die he nearly managed to gas me to death. Now think about how hard it would be to win against not just one, but _three_ of them plus their boss! Do you see why we have to keep you guys moving?" He hung his head. "I don't want you making the same mistake I did that cost me my dad…"

Gale gently but forcefully made Dark sit back down. "It's exactly that reason we can't just start running around like mad. We're not saying we can outwit these guys, but if we act carefully we might stand some chance of avoiding them." He turned to Link and Zelda. "Still, I'm pretty sure all of us here agree with you that it's disconcerting to see how capable a crippled Talon Three guy was."

Zelda nodded. "Right. Let's not waste time. Link," Link looked up. "Do you want to try looking for the temple again, or do you have another plan?"

Dark frowned. "Huh? You guys couldn't find it?"

"No. Not a trace of it." Link shook his head. "I'm not really sure why, either. I was so convinced I would be able to find it."

"…That's weird. It should be easy to find." Dark rested his chin on his hands. He seemed to be deep in thought.

"What's up?" Zelda asked. The dark haired boy's eyes darted towards her for a split second before they went back to staring at his toes. He clutched his head, sighing heavily.

"All right. I give up."

Link walked over and sat next to him. "Hm?"

Dark picked at his bandage, preoccupied. It was obvious he didn't like the words that were coming out of his mouth. "I'll accompany you guys today. I think I'll be able to find the temple."

"Really?" Link brightened.

Dark gave him a flat look. "I'll help you just this once. After that, I'm through with this heroic business of trying to save the world, okay?"

Gale smirked. "Welcome to our miserable group. Why the sudden change of heart?"

Link's counterpart stood up and began to get ready. "Because I think I was doomed to get involved in this messy business ever since I tried to be a stupid hero."

"That's always the case," Gale nodded knowingly. He gave a cheeky smile at Link. "Isn't that right, Link? You always have to read the fine print before signing up for these kinds of things, or you might end up stuck with something you didn't mean to get stuck with." Gale laughed, highly amused at himself, while everyone else blinked. Noticing the way everyone was looking at him, he smiled with fake innocence. "Oops, sorry, I shouldn't make light about this, should I?"

"…Stop being weird."

Gale grinned. That startling glint was back in his blood red eyes, and he rounded on Link. Link took a step back as Gale practically purred. "Why, are you scared of me?" Snickering, Gale turned and began to make his way out the door before the frozen Link could answer. "Ahaha, you guys are too funny."

Link, Dark, and Zelda stared after him. Zelda was the first to speak.

"… So, have you ever wondered if bringing Vaati back is still a good idea?"

Link scratched his head. "I'm not sure we have much of a choice though. We'll just hope I can handle him when he comes around." He shrugged. "At the moment, I don't even know if he'll be all that different from the way Gale is acting now."

XXXXXXX

They had returned to the Sea of Trees once again, this time under the lead of Dark. Both Links looked very determined as they walked off, almost in synch with each other. Gale and Zelda trailed slightly behind, both of them taking nervous and uncomfortable peeks around the thickening trees as the place became increasingly darker. The woods thickened as they progressed, and eventually it became difficult to move forward from the sheer density of vegetation.

Zelda had a funny feeling about this place. She hadn't liked it one bit when they had explored it yesterday, and she didn't like it any better today. She wasn't really sure if it was all the stories of suicides and disappearances in the forest or if it was something else. Gale had claimed it was the stagnant air, and she supposed it had something to do with it.

"Can you feel it? There's no wind here," Gale said, stepping over some gnarled roots that blocked his way. "This place is stagnant."

They had come to speaking in hushed whispers because their voices sounded too loud to their ears in the eerily quiet forest. Zelda had expected to run into some wildlife, but this forest was a dead one. She hadn't seen even a single squirrel during their trek through the woods.

Up ahead, Link ducked his head under some rogue branches. He sounded puzzled, following Dark. "Hey Dark, I think we tried going this way yesterday. We didn't find anything."

"Do you want my help or not?" Dark asked, still in a sour mood from having to take part in the three's adventure. "I'm just going by feel, and I'm pretty sure this is the way I took the last time I was here."

Zelda shivered. "Why did you decide to come here the first time? Surely you had a good reason to come to such a creepy place like this." Following behind her, Gale uttered something in agreement. He grumbled when brambles caught the hood of his sweatshirt, and yanked himself free.

Dark remained quiet for some time. His pace slowed, and then came to a full stop in front of a scrawny tree. Link, Gale, and Zelda tilted their heads, wondering, when he suddenly knelt down and gently put his hand on the ground towards something they couldn't see. The three moved closer when Dark posed them a question.

"Well, think about it for a little bit. Why do people come to the famous Sea of Trees?"

Zelda took a sharp step back when she came into view of the thing piled past the tree by Dark's feet. It was the crumpled skeleton with the sword through its heart that they had encountered yesterday.

Gale sounded slightly disgusted, and he wrinkled his nose. "You came here to die?"

Dark stood up. "Hey, I know now that even considering suicide was a dumb thing to do. When I came here I was pretty messed up, alright?"

"Hmph. At least you came around. I don't understand people who are so pathetic they would rather kill themselves."

"No, you wouldn't understand," Dark said, his voice rising from anger. "You wouldn't know how guilty I felt when my dad died. How I came to hate everyone who looked up to me because I didn't deserve it. You wouldn't know anything at all!"

"Are you suggesting we have a pity party now? Because I don't have fucking balloons for you!" Gale snapped.

"Cut it out!"

Link grabbed Dark by his arm and dragged him away from Gale, while Zelda snatched the albino's hood and pulled him away by the neck. She quickly berated him for being so insensitive, but also had a word with Dark. "I hope you're not considering that anymore."

Dark whipped his arm away from Link's grip. He nodded as calmly as he could, trying his best not to explode at Gale. "I'm not."

Giving a respectful bow to the resting skeleton, he turned his back and began to walk forward again. Link gave Gale a disapproving look. "I think you should apologize."

Gale glowered. "For what?"

"For being a total ass-hat."

Gale didn't reply, instead choosing silence over admitting he had been out of hand. Huffing, he quickened his pace so as to stomp on ahead and to catch up to Dark, leaving Link and Zelda behind.

"It's this place," Zelda observed, walking next to Link. "There's something about this place that's making everyone on edge." She looked over her shoulder at Link who was nodding his head in agreement. "Hurry, before we lose sight of them."

They hopped over rotting logs and ducked under branches to catch up to Dark and Gale. Preoccupied by their problems, neither of them heard the soft clattering that followed them. If they had cared to listen, it would have sounded like the chatter of falling bones.

XXXXXXXXX

Skull Kid stared blankly at the off-white walls of his "play-room." He yawned, and then sighed, fiddling with the Ocarina of Time in his hands. At first this place had been interesting because everyone had paid attention to him. The skinny doctor had always brought him something to play with to satiate his curiosity, but now things had become incredibly boring. There was only so much fun one could have with toys without any friends to join the fun, and Skull Kid didn't consider Dr. Skinny to be much of a friend. Dr. Skinny was an adult, anyway, and he had always been of the opinion that adults were boring, uptight individuals with no sense of humor.

He watched a researcher walk past his securely locked room. Skull Kid grinned and waved, trying to beckon the researcher when he glanced briefly in his direction, but all he got was a small smile back. The doors remained tightly shut and he remained stuck in his room all by himself.

"This sucks," he said aloud. He kicked a stuffed bear and giggled lightly when it plopped against the wall on the other side. He continued his impish giggles in the hopes that he would be able to fool himself into thinking this whole situation were fun.

For as long as he could remember, Skull Kid had always been hiding behind his Cheshire cat grin. The random people who walked through the Lost Woods always believed he was happy and cheerful behind his smiles that extended widely over his face. They would get upset at him for his various pranks and he would laugh, convincing everyone, including himself, that he was getting a kick out of playing tricks.

Skull Kid's giggles died down until he was back to sitting in his room quietly, the ocarina in his hands.

Deep down he knew all too well that his smiles and laughs were just there to hide the fact that he was really lonely. To get people to notice him, he would do anything.

Skull Kid noticed how somber he was becoming, and broke into amused snickers. "Ahaha, I'm acting funny." He tossed the instrument into the air and then snatched it back with a swoop, blowing a note as loud as he could. He let the noise blare around the room, going into another fit of giggles for no reason.

Then, once the echoes of the din died down, he closed his eyes and began to play the melody he had become obsessed with. It was the one Dr. Skinny would praise him for playing, as well as the one that gave him a sense of warmth. It was a feeling that he assumed would be the feeling he would have if he had a best friend. Over the past few months, he had become fond of this particular melody.

Four six-winged fire fairies appeared and fluttered around Skull Kid in time to the tune. Their wings were almost as long as his arms now, where before they had been no longer than his palm. As he played, he could hear a faint, slightly condescending voice in his head.

_You're trying again? Then let me criticize you. That segment sounds too flat, and it needs to be more interesting. _

Skull Kid stopped playing. "You're never happy with what I play." He then started from the beginning again. "Like that?" he asked one of the fairies that had circled closer.

_Eh. Not really. _The voice was childish, and if it had a face it would have been pouting. _And I'm never happy with what you play because you're not playing it RIGHT._

"Then what about this?" He tried again. The four fairies flashed, and in a flare of light they merged and became three. Their wings were even larger than before.

_That's perfect! The trill was a nice touch._ The voice giggled in a way that was similar to Skull Kid's. _You're almost finished with this piece._

"Aww, I'm not done yet?"

_Not until I'm satisfied. But I have faith in you – you have real talent._

"Really? Gee, thanks." Skull Kid opened his eyes and watched the fairies slowly disappear after the music stopped. "The big people say they like my music too. Well, not that I care too much about _their_ opinions."

_I do not care about them either._

Skull Kid played a segment of the Adagio again to rekindle the fire fairies, and to keep the voice he was talking to alive, since he had figured out the voice would disappear some time after the end of his songs. He smiled, pausing in the middle of the song. "So, when will I be able to meet you, huh?"

The childish voice laughed along. _I already told you, silly. You have to finish my song._

"But you're so picky."

_I want it to be perfect like a goddess. I want it perfect like me._

Skull Kid held out a hand to allow one of the fairies to hover over it. "You know, when I finally get to see you, you'll be my friend, right?"

_Friend?_

"Yeah, like, we'll have fun together right? You won't leave me?"

_Hmm. I suppose. That's not a concept I'm too familiar with. _

"Me neither. But I heard it's fun to have friends."

_Fun._

"Yeah."

_Then yes, I will be your friend. _

Skull kid giggled and pumped his fist in the air. "Yes!"

_But first, finish the song and free me._

XXXXXXXXX

When Link and Zelda caught up to the other two, they were standing in a small clearing in the forest that was different from the vegetation-thick trail they had been in earlier. The sky was still barely visible from the various trees that branched out over the clearing, but at least now the sunlight could reach down more boldly. In the middle of the clearing was the moss-ridden rubble of some temple from long ago. Zelda could hardly recognize its structure anymore since it had all crumbled to pieces, but certain features such as a set of stairs and an elaborate crest on a fallen pillar hinted at what it might have looked like in its former glory.

Dark was standing with his back to them, while Gale had his arms crossed next to him with an irritated expression. Zelda assumed those two were still upset at each other from before. Gale grumbled. "Is this rock pile your temple, Link? This doesn't look like much."

"How did this… this wasn't here yesterday," Link said, half to himself. He watched Dark move over to one of the crumpled walls and trace over a faded symbol of a bird with the Triforce over it; the symbol of the Hylian royal crest. The bird boded an ominous sign for them now, since they associated it with the fourth part of the Triforce that was going to give them a ton of trouble.

Dark smiled somewhat sadly. "I stumbled across this thing when I was looking for, you know, a quiet place…" he trailed off. It was now a general consensus that the reason for Dark's visit to the Sea of Trees was not something anyone wanted to talk about. Dark continued. "For some reason, I changed my mind when I came here. I don't know how to describe it, but I think I was able to think more clearly after coming here. I realized my dad wouldn't have wanted me to do it." He waved his arms towards the rubble. "So you guys really couldn't find this yesterday, huh?"

"No." Link walked slowly over to the ruins. "I also didn't expect to see the temple in such a sorry state. This could be a prob – "

Before he could finish, the air around the temple shimmered and he felt a burning sensation on the back of his left hand. He looked down, and noticed that the outline of the Triforce was glowing faintly. A surprised yelp from Dark's direction caused his head to snap up, and he realized his counterpart also had a glowing triangle on his hand, albeit dimmer. There was a sickening rip across the air above the rubble, and before they knew it they were standing before a magnificent temple of white stone. The Temple of Time had returned.

Gale gaped at the change in scenery. "What was that?" He turned towards Link, his face searching for an explanation. Then, he saw something else that was shocking right behind Link. "What is _that?_" He pointed at the wobbling thing that had appeared from out of the trees.

Zelda gasped, and Link jumped back at the sight of the thing that had followed them. It was the skeleton they had passed earlier, except this time it was somehow standing on its legs and had an ominous green glow emanating from its eye sockets. The skeleton swayed its head with every step, its permanent grin lolling from side to side. It stopped when it noticed a dagger pointed in its direction. Dark had stepped up bravely to stop it. Link joined next to him.

"That's a Stalfos. They say people who couldn't escape the Lost Woods turn into these monsters."

Dark scowled. "I see. I'm beginning to believe your crazy story about magic and monsters."

The Stalfos crouched, leering at the two. It brought up its hand and gripped the sword that was still stuck through its chest and pulled it out.

"Alright, so how do we kill something that's already dead?" Dark asked, putting away his dagger since it was no match for a sword.

"We just have to pull it apart enough so that it can't walk anymore. Take out your slingshot and aim for the head – it stuns them for a little while." Link rolled up his sleeves.

"What are you going to do?"

"Don't worry," Link grinned, "I'm used to situations like this."

XXXXXXX

Zelda and Gale moved off to the side to let the two Links handle the fighting. Zelda shook her head. "This is so unreal. How do you explain something like that? And why hasn't anyone in our time ever seen one before?"

Instead of watching bored like the jaded teenager that he was, Gale sat up with interest and stared intently at Link and Dark who were talking about strategy against the Stalfos. Tapping his chin, his eyes occasionally darted towards the Temple of Time. "If I were to venture a guess, Link's Triforce had an influence in restoring the magic back to this part of the Lost Woods." He waved his arm at the clearing. "Remember how Link was saying he was one of the few people who knew how to navigate the Lost Woods? I think it's because the Temple of Time and the Triforce are drawn to each other. Since you also have the Triforce, he thought you would be able to find it as well."

Gale rambled on. "What he didn't realize was that because he's not from this time, he wouldn't be the one that could find the Temple of Time. It would have had to be Dark. At the same time, Dark's Triforce was 'inactivated,' because in this era there should be no conflict between the Triforce bearers and therefore there should be no hero. That's why when we first found the clearing, all we saw was a pile of rubble." He sounded excited now, proud of his explanation. "But when Link and Dark were in the same place at the same time, Link's Triforce brought back the magic to this place. The two combined has the effect of bringing out the Triforce's real power. The Stalfos appeared because of that as well."

"If that's true, then why couldn't I find the temple ruins?"

He shrugged. "I don't really know. Your mind might have had something to do with it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zelda asked, slightly offended.

"A part of getting magic to work relies on getting rid of any skepticism that will prevent you from doing the unbelievable; because that's what magic really is – the unbelievable. When Dark first found this place, he probably didn't care about anything anymore. His mind was on other things, so it had no room for skepticism. You, on the other hand," he smiled knowingly, "didn't really believe this would exist, did you?"

"No…" she admitted. An odd expression was beginning to form on her face, and she regarded Gale with suspicion.

Gale grinned. "Exactly. That's the same problem I have at the moment – I know I'm fully capable of sorcery, but an idiotic part of me refuses to believe it."

"Right…"

"Soon, though, this problem will disappear. All it takes is a little time and a little nudge to be able to embrace everything without inhibitions." Gale's eyes glinted. "You can tell, can't you, how my attitude has changed? You're wondering why I know about magic?"

Slightly taken aback by how direct his question was, Zelda nodded. He laughed.

"Hahaha, right now I'm having so much fun making you all stumble over yourselves in trying to figure out if I'm Vaati or Gale." He tutted. "I'm still Gale, I'll have you know. That hasn't changed. What has changed is how much I've come to terms with Link's story. Oh the irony!" he laughed. "Of all of us here, I actually might be the person who believes him the most."

XXXXXXXX

Link and Dark kept a cautious distance from the monster. Link nodded towards Dark. "Now."

Dark released his hold on the slingshot, sending a rock towards the Stalfos's head. It knocked the Stalfos backwards, and it tottered to regain its balance. Before it could stabilize itself, Link ran behind it and jumped on its back, grabbing its neck in a guillotine choke.

"Nice one!" Dark picked up a sturdy branch from the ground and lunged forward, attempting to shatter some of the skeleton's bones.

_Whack!_

"OW!"

"Ahahahaha! That's priceless!"

Instead of hitting bones, Dark's branch had made a sturdy hit with Link's side. The blond tumbled to the ground, clutching his ribs where they'd been hit. In the distance, Gale was dying from laughter. Dark took in a sharp breath, sympathetic of the pain. "Uh, man I'm sorry…" There was a pile of bones by his feet where the Stalfos had voluntarily scattered right before it had been hit. The skull's eye sockets were still glowing a dull green, and that gave Dark the chills. "Sneaky little sucker." He reached over to take the sword away from the monster.

"Yikes!" Dark stumbled away from the skeleton pile when the sword he had attempted to take nearly slashed his arm off. He glanced at his sleeve where there was a nice, clean cut where the sword had gone through. "You're almost as bad as Harrier," Dark said flatly at the Stalfos' arm that was waving around the ground with the sword. In a few seconds, the rest of the body attached itself to the arm and the Stalfos was complete again.

"These things… can put themselves… back together…" Link groaned, crawling away. "Jeez, you really got me good there, Dark."

"Well how was I supposed to know he was going to disassemble?"

Link gripped the grass and pulled himself forward. Upon doing so, he ended up pulling a bulbous root that was a dark blue in color. He stared at the odd root for some time, and then barked sharply, "Dark, stay away from the Stalfos!"

"Easier said than done!" Dark cried, dancing around the sword-swinging Stalfos. He retreated behind some trees, but made a misstep and tripped over a gnarled root that was snaking over the ground. "Crap." Dark brought his hands up in a pointless effort to protect himself from the monster's sword. Before the sword was able to swing down, however, a startling blast sent him toppling head over heels into the tree behind him. Dazed, he brushed away bits and pieces of bones that had rained down on him.

"I didn't think I'd find bomb flowers here." Link stepped over the scattered pieces of bones, waving away the dust and dirt that had flown up into the air. He coughed, frantically kicking away the leaves in the area. "We have to find the skull and crush it, or it'll just keep coming back."

Dark blinked. "Bomb flowers? Are you telling me there are bombs just growing out of the ground now?"

"Pretty much. They used to be everywhere in my era. Hurry up and help me find that skull."

"Dang. I can only imagine all the problems you would have had with bombers."

Link shrugged. "Eh. Bomb flowers usually blow up within a few seconds of pulling it out of the ground, so we never really had any bomber threats."

"…That sounds even worse. What if you were trying to pull out weeds and one of them turned out to be a bomb?"

"Oh, that happened all the time. You get used to it."

"…"

Dark brushed himself off and began to help Link look for the Stalfos skull. It didn't take him very long to see it lying next to a pile of rocks with its glowing eyes casting strange shadows around it. Jumping over bushes, Dark made his way over to the skull. Picking up a rock, he brought it over his head to swing it down on top of it to crush it.

"Rest in peace, poor fellow."

Without warning, the skull chattered towards him, making Dark step away in surprise. It rolled along the ground until a small hill made it stop with its glowing green eyes fixed on Dark. It clattered its teeth together, and it attempted to speak in response to Dark's voice.

"Click click… Curse Harrier… click click… Avilux must fall… click click… evil."

Dark brought his stone up higher. "So Harrier got you, huh? I feel sorry you had to go through this, whoever you are. I promise to make it quick."

The skull stopped chattering. Dark could have sworn the small green supernovas in the middle of its eye sockets swiveled towards him. It regarded him for a few seconds, and looking back, Dark didn't know why he couldn't crush it right then and there. The skull clattered again, slowly. "Click… Link?"

Dark froze in petrified stupor. His eyes widened, and the hands that held the stone above his head began to shake. He tried to bring the stone down onto the skull like Link had told him to, but he found himself unable to do it. Could it be…? Was this monster actually what was left of _him_?

"No. No, you can't be. That's impossible."

"Click click… Link… click."

"No no no! What did they do to you?"

Just then, Link walked around the shade of a tree and into view. He saw Dark clutching a sturdy stone tightly, shaking his head and appearing sufficiently disturbed. "Dark? Did you find that skull yet?" Link halted mid-step when he felt the air swirling around him. He started walking faster towards Dark. "It's the Stalfos! Dark, he's nearby!"

"No… you're not… I can't…" the stone fell with a loud "thunk" between Dark's feet. The dark haired Link moved his hands in small circles, unsure of what to do in his distraught state.

"Dark!" Link made a dive for the other boy and the two flew to the ground, narrowly missing the swing of a sword where their necks used to be. Link looked at Dark with a troubled gaze. Discerning that Dark was in no state to fight, Link took a deep breath and faced the Stalfos that was stalking towards them. "Wait here."

Slowly luring the monster away from Dark, Link crouched to the ground and reached for a leafy patch with a dark blue root poking out of the ground. He waited for the skeleton to swing its sword again. "Hyaaa!"

_BOOM_

The bomb flower exploded as it connected with the skeleton's torso. The bones flew in all directions, and Link shielded himself behind a bush. Poking his head up once the dust had settled, he began his search for the skull once more.

A rustling noise startled Link from his search. He relaxed when he saw that it was Dark. "Hey. You feeling all right? I'm looking for the… hey, is that - ?" He pointed at the yellowed object in Dark's hands. The other teen held up a hand.

"Wait." A pained expression was etched into Dark's face. He carefully set the skull down onto the ground, and he sat in front of it with his knees hugged tightly. Link thought he almost looked like a little boy.

"Click… Link…" The skull chattered again.

Link gasped in surprise. "It recognizes you."

Thin creases appearing on Dark's forehead, he dropped his chin on his knees. He wasn't paying attention to Link. Dark tugged at the plants growing by his feet, yanking them out in a repetitive motion. "You're not there anymore, are you?" he said to the skull quietly.

The skull chattered. "Click click"

"You're just a shred of what you were. Now you're as good as dead, or maybe even worse."

"Click click… Link…"

"I don't want to see you like this. That's why," Dark buried his head in his arms, and he tried to hide how his shoulders were heaving, "that's why I have to let you go."

Terrible understanding dawning on Link, he stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on Dark. "Here, I can handle this for you."

Dark pushed Link away. Biting his lip so hard that they bled, he shakily stood up and picked up another stone in his hands. "It has to be me."

"Click click"

_Smash!_

"I was the one who caused this. I need to be the one to end it." Dark turned away and began to walk in the direction back to the clearing where Gale and Zelda were waiting. He stopped after five steps, his back shaking uncontrollably. Link walked over and stood next to him – he knew Dark didn't want sympathy right now, and all he wanted was to lose himself in his own misery. A lonely tear rolled down Dark's cheek. "Dad, I'm so sorry," he whispered hoarsely.

Putting his hand around Dark's shoulder, Link slowly led him away from the remains of the Stalfos.

* * *

Travel Log: N/A

* * *

fleets: I admit I might have rushed some bits of this chapter, and I know exactly why: it's because the next chapter is going to be the chapter I have been DYING to write. I know, it's not a good excuse. I was also going to add more to this chapter, but decided against it since it already had a lot going on. For instance, we see more of Skull Kid and a new "friend," and the Stalfos. I couldn't have those important segments being consumed and forgotten by what I'm going to save for the next chapter.

**Midna Hytwilian:** Huh. You're right, I never noticed this story was a little darker than my other stories when it comes to the main villains. Actually, I don't think BC had any real villains like this one.

**Reily96: **I honestly don't know who the main baddie is anymore, since I put in so many baddies in this story. And so many baddies who aren't really on the same side. O.o;**  
**

**Astral S. Kepeire:** And you actually got the 200th review :) ...oh wow... I can't believe I got 200 reviews. And once upon a time I thought I'd never reach more than 50 for any story I'd write. Half-arsed review? Nonsense! i always enjoy your reviews because they give me good pointers that i'd never noticed.

**Sapphiet: **I might consider writing a chapter like that for my own personal amusement of Dugal torture (insert evil laugh here). Nope, it wasn't this chapter, unfortunately. But it's coming soon. I can see it looming already. **  
**

**xBlackDragoonx: **Yeah, if Dark had to do that he probably would have died before he succeeded (plus where the heck would he have found a boomerang? lol, Dark would have been screwed majorly). **  
**

**henslight:** I was missing Skull Kid too, so I felt it was time we saw how he was doing again... and it seems he's got a troublesome "friend." Wow, I really respect non-native English speakers, having had to go through that myself at one point in time when I didn't know any English at all. Rigged rooms = rooms equipped with traps and tricks. So Harrier had set up a special room that would shoot knives from the roof with a number combination from his remote.

**i-wish-799: **Yep, people like the guys from Talon Three can't really be pinned down as good or bad. They're mostly bad from a socially acceptable view, but from their vantage point they might claim they're not bad at all. Dark is too important to leave this story just yet ;)**  
**

**LinkxDarkLink: **And the story keeps getting twistier. Untangling it is going to be rough, but I will try my best :D**  
**

**fanfictionweirdo: **Aw, thank you! And I do try to make things as twisty as possible :)**  
**

**Ephriokko: **Yes, yes he is a psycho and he scares me. Good riddance he's dead. Actually, Dugal already knew that Dark was with Link - he was just playing dumb to fool with poor Dark (Hawk kept him informed in the previous chapters). Dark is Link's counterpart after all - they have the same things happen to them lol :P**  
**


	22. Return of the Wind Mage

fleets: holyshnizzles I actually made it to this chapter! The title says it all 8D

* * *

**Chapter 21: Return of the Wind Mage**

Zelda was the first to run up to the two Links when they walked into view. She could tell something was wrong from the way Dark dragged along with Link's arm around his shoulder supportively. Even Gale refrained from making snide remarks – he was a jerk, but he knew when someone was so disturbed that they should be left alone.

Link patted Dark on the back, and let him sit down on top of a rock to brood by himself for a minute. If the forest was quiet before, it was a complete vacuum now. No one said anything in fear of saying the wrong thing.

Link motioned the other two over to speak with them privately. Both Gale and Zelda gave him inquisitive glances. "That Stalfos," Link gestured over by the trees they had walked out of, "it used to be his dad."

Gale frowned. "I see…"

"That's awful. How do you know?" Zelda asked.

"I don't really know how Dark found out, but the thing recognized him. He's convinced it's his dad, and since this is the Lost Woods, he probably got turned into a Stalfos."

They threw uneasy looks at the teen who was sitting limply by himself, all of his energy drained. Biting her lip, Zelda slowly began to walk towards Dark with conviction. That is, until she was stopped short by Gale. She looked up at him questioningly, but he only shook his head.

"Words of encouragement aren't what he needs right now."

Zelda pulled away. "What?"

"You have that look on your face a lot of girls have when they want to help someone. Trust me, it's better if you didn't go talk to him right now – he'll lash out at you in this state." Gale stuffed his hands in his pockets. Though he stood lazily, his expression was stern. "I, on the other hand, can handle a few lashings."

Link reached out and grabbed his arm. "Gale, what are you doing? He doesn't need any of your acid right now."

Gale slowly moved Link's hand away from him. "You people always assume I'm the bad guy." Grinning, he winked at Zelda. "Besides, I still owe him an apology, don't I?" With that, he strolled off towards Dark who could have been mistaken for an old doll at the moment.

XXXXXXXXXX

Images forced themselves onto Dark's mind and kept flashing repeatedly as chaotic as his state was at the moment. He saw his dad, smiling with his warm, friendly expression, as he led him to class on his first day of school since he had moved to Japan. He saw his dad, still smiling, and never showing a gloomy side even after his mother had passed away. Saw his dad drop him off by the bus stop for his first kendo lesson. Saw his dad giving him an all-is-well smile before he left for work to confront Harrier.

And most haunting of all, he saw his dad smiling permanently as an aging skeleton intent on killing him.

A crunch of leaves made him look up briefly from his nightmarish reverie, and then he went back to staring blankly in front of him when he saw that it was Gale. Dark stiffened, half-expecting Gale to make a callous statement.

Gale, however, simply sat down next to him and stared just as blankly in space. It created a silence that was just awkward enough to be uncomfortable, but not awkward enough to be considered hostile. Dark was having a hard time ignoring Gale, but at the same time he couldn't gather enough nerve to tell him to go away since the other teen had done nothing wrong. Dark struggled to keep his somber quiet, but in the end he caved under the pressure of having Gale sitting next to him, waiting expectantly for something to happen. Dark began to talk.

"I always wanted to find out what had happened to him." He played with a pebble he'd found on the ground. At the sound of his voice, Gale turned his head slightly towards him, but continued to say absolutely nothing. "Now that I have, I don't know if I was ready to find out."

There was a pause. Normally, people would have generally replied or signified they had been paying attention, but Gale was stubborn in keeping his flat expression. Probably more than anyone, he understood that sometimes, people needed to talk to someone without getting a reply back. He had avoided people because he had felt that anything they had said to him would make him feel annoyed, especially since they usually attempted mock sympathy for his upbringing as a kid who had been ditched by his parents – people like him and Dark didn't need people to pretend they understood their situation. All they needed was someone who could withstand their wrath as they vented their frustrations.

Taking a deep breath, Dark muttered, "Why did it have to say my name? That clicking noise… I can still hear it. That thing wasn't my dad anymore."

There was another pause, and this time, Dark glanced over at Gale who was wordlessly sitting next to him. It took a few minutes of ho-ing and ha-ing with annoyed fidgeting before Dark finally snapped at the pale teen. Playing civil was over.

"What do you want, anyway? You walk over here and sit next to me without having anything to say?" He glared challengingly at Gale. "If you have anything to say, then say it goddesses damn you. Are you picking a fight with me?"

Gale considered him for some time, reacting to Dark for the first time. "No."

"You are so irritating!" Dark abruptly stood up and stormed off. Within a few minutes, however, he came back to yell at Gale some more.

"Do you know what I want right now? Do you?"

Gale slowly shook his head no, he didn't.

"I want to kill whoever did that to dad, but I can't! Do you know why I can't?" Dark practically screamed. "Because Harrier's FUCKING DEAD!"

Gale patiently waited for the storm to pass. He ignored Link and Zelda who were staring at them, wondering what was going on.

"I wish I could bring Harrier back from the dead so I can kill him a hundred times over!"

There was a scuffle of dirt as Gale stretched. "If you could do that, you might as well bring your dad back from the dead," he mused. In an instant, he felt himself lifted up by his collar with his face nearly touching Dark's furious glower.

"You want to get smart with me right now?"

Gale shrugged. "Just think about what you're saying."

"I want that bastard to suffer."

"You honestly don't want him to come back again and again."

"What would you know?"

"I know." Gale met his eyes with a 'let's just leave it at that,' look.

Dark seethed at the response. There was an aura of outright hostility surrounding Dark, while Gale remained as calm as ever. For a moment it seemed as though Dark would punch the other boy in the face, but after a while, he walked around and circled back to sit down next to Gale again. Once they were back to where they started, Gale turned his head over to the Temple of Time, considering it. In an offhand way, he mentioned to the air, "Hey, it's okay to scream."

Dark shifted. Grunting, he made to ignore Gale's comment. After some time, he stood up and walked off into the woods out of sight from everyone. Gale's eyes followed Dark's back as the dark haired Link disappeared between the trees, and he waited, absentmindedly picking the leaves off of a twig. In the distance, there was a muffled scream full of hate and anguish, which gradually died down into a choking cry. Nodding to himself, Gale tossed the twig he'd been fiddling with and picked up another one to pluck the leaves off of. By the time he was done, Dark returned with a stern, but less pained expression.

For the sake of Dark, Gale pretended not to notice the reddish tint around his eyes that could only mean one thing. Instead, he grinned slightly. "That felt better, didn't it?"

Dark nodded slowly.

"That's how I feel a lot of the time." He stood up, and then pointed at Zelda and Link who were wide-eyed and worried Gale was screwing things up. "Come on, let's join them before they think we'll start fighting."

Without saying anything, Dark walked past Gale. The albino followed a little ways behind, and was slightly surprised when Dark slowed his pace to let him catch up.

"Thanks," Dark said so quietly Gale had to strain his ears to hear.

"No prob." Gale waved a hand, passing the comment away. Then, he muttered somewhat reluctantly, "sorry about earlier."

When the two reached Link and Zelda, the blond pair expectantly waited for an explanation of some sort. They were mostly looking at Dark, throwing inquisitive glances to check to see if he was fine. Dark looked at both of them, and then shrugged like nothing had happened.

"Sorry I kept you waiting." He flicked hair away from his face. "You guys ready?"

"Nope." Gale stepped forward. "But I can't keep running forever. Let's do this."

XXXXXXXXX

Footsteps clicked softly as the little group moved up the stairs leading to the door of the Temple of Time that had magically re-appeared from the rubble. They moved with some trepidation, and Link thought he could see hints of fear on Gale's face. At the same time, the other teen appeared determined to go through with this.

Zelda was the first to reach the door to the temple. The large crest of a bird was on the huge stone doors, and placing her hand on it, she gently applied pressure. The doors swung open effortlessly, and they all huddled around to take a look inside.

Stained glass with the pictures of different sages lined the walls of the temple. There was a tingling sensation that was barely noticeable on the back of Zelda's hand, and as she observed each glass panel she had a strange feeling of being able to recognize the people represented. Even the alien one with blue skin and fins didn't seem too out-of-this-world for her. At the far end of the temple was a sword standing upright on its pedestal. It had a majestic, royal purple hilt with a yellow jewel embedded in the middle, and the light streaking down from the circular window above created a halo effect around it.

As though it needed to claim more attention.

Zelda followed Link who had taken the lead towards the Master Sword, and she slowly walked towards it as the sword beckoned.

She stopped halfway and looked behind her when she noticed two people had steadfastly remained by the entrance. Both Dark and Gale were unhappily striding around near the door, refusing to take a step towards the sword.

Gale noticed her looking, and he growled. "I don't like that thing." Next to him, Dark nodded in agreement.

Link stepped up to the pedestal and grabbed a hold of the hilt. "What happened to those big words you said earlier?"

"I don't know how to describe that sword in any other way except that it's revolting." Gale scrunched his nose at it. "It makes my skin crawl." Reluctantly, he inched towards the pedestal where Link and Zelda were standing. Behind him, Dark trailed after just as uneasily.

A bead of sweat rolled off of Gale's nose, and he had to steady himself the closer he came to the Blade of Evil's Bane. His vision blurred, and he stumbled, feeling someone catch him under his arms. Gale momentarily pushed them away, insisting he was fine, and took another step towards the temple's sword. The instant he had done so, a throb shot through his skull and his vision went completely haywire. Panicking, he waved, his arms out only to hit Zelda who had stopped him from falling.

"Gale!"

Disoriented, he squinted towards the source of the voice, and became even more confused when he saw the outline of a blond haired girl in a satin pink dress. It had to be Zelda, but since when did Zelda dress up like a princess? When he turned to where he thought Link was standing to see a teenager in a green tunic with a trailing pointed hat. "What…?"

Voices. Voices were calling out his name in worry, and he assumed they were from Link, Zelda, and Dark. However, he couldn't discern the name they were yelling. Nor did he care, since all he wanted to do was get away from Link who had come running up to him with the Master Sword in hand.

If anything in his vision was clear, it was the yellow jewel on the sword's hilt. In a reactionary fit, he slid away from the sword and even attempted to hit it away from him. As soon as the back of his palm touched the sword, he felt a stinging pain pierce his head.

Blasted sword.

He swung his head around, and now he saw a golden sword in the hand of a boy wearing a green tunic he saw Link wearing earlier. He saw the boy, dirt smudged across his face and sustaining several cuts and burns, talk to his hat that was shaped like a bird. The boy lunged with his sword and it glowed, breaking him into four identical clones that rushed to stab him.

As soon as Gale blinked, the images swirled and changed again, this time into four different colored Links who surrounded him. They appeared younger than the Link he knew now, but they all had that same look of mute determination. There was a slight shift in movement behind them, and Gale noticed a fifth Link gripping the edge of a mirror with shaking knees. He was garbed in a shadowy black tunic, and he reminded Gale of Dark. The teen watched as the darker Link pushed down the mirror with his face contorted into a silent scream. The mirror shattered in a million shards of beautiful, blinding silver. Gale squeezed his eyes shut to block the painful light.

The series of images didn't disappear even after he had closed his eyes. Pictures of a dusky room with ancient books stacked between the spider webs skirted across his eyes. Before him, a heavy spell book was laid open and a small, round, bat-like creature with a single eye was resting on the stained pages. It abruptly looked up at him with fright, and flapped its leathery wings to shoot away as a purple streak. The next instant, the room exploded with lightning blue until nothing could be seen.

As soon as the light cleared, Gale was face to face with Link once again. It wasn't just any Link – it was _the _Link. It was Link Petrov, except he was riding a chestnut mare and was wearing a green tunic instead of a trench coat. Link glanced at him with curiosity, and reached out a hand in a friendly gesture. Gale felt his own hand slap Link's away, but couldn't catch what was being said.

His mind confused with all the images rushing at him, Gale finally gripped his head and screamed. "STOP!"

In the sudden chaos, Gale blacked out mercifully. Within the ancient corner of his mind that had long been forgotten, he heard a gleeful, demented laugh.

XXXXXXXXX

Gale slowly dared to open his eyes after an interminable amount of time. His headache had disappeared, and he saw that he was in an infinite expanse of white that made his eyes tired from having nothing to focus on. However, this place, wherever he was, didn't make him feel uncomfortable. On the contrary, he had never felt more at ease.

"Why, hello there."

Gale froze. It was a haughty, arrogant voice with condescending irritation laid thick on every word. Actually, it sounded exactly like his own voice, and it was coming directly behind him. He began to turn around, but hesitated; turning around to face the voice seemed like something he had been trying to do his whole life, and it was something he had never succeeded in doing. Why should he be able to face the speaker now?

"It's only been a little over a decade of trying to face me, in your case. Surely it's too early to give up?"

Gale grit his teeth. What an annoying voice. "Why should I make the effort for you? How about you make an effort?"

He heard a snort. "You dare suggest such a thing? As though you would know how hard I tried. I've been yelling and screaming at you but your deaf ears never heard a thing. I'll have you know, I've been trying for over eight-thousand years."

The albino teen had had enough of being insulted. He wrenched his head around with an angry growl. "What do you want? It's your fault, isn't it, that my life is so screwed up now?" He let his eyes fall on the speaker and the source of his irritation. Another teenager who looked like his double was lounging on an ornate throne with a single eye as its centerpiece. Like Gale's, his complexion was extremely pale, and the only difference was that his lavender tinted hair was longer. The teen had the same crescent mark under his visible eye, and his crimson eyes had the same mocking glint. A dark purple cape pinned by a gold circle was draped over an equally purple tunic. He was wearing orange wizard sandals along with a pointed hat adorned with a gleaming red jewel. Vaati whipped his cape over his shoulder.

"Finally. After all these years you finally turn around to talk to me. It's rather annoying that Link of all people was the one who helped facilitate this." Vaati shrugged. "His downfall I suppose." The sorcerer yawned, and then began to pick on his vainly polished nails. "Yes. I blame myself for making a rather stupid mistake. My ambitions and desperation to thwart death blinded me to possible nuisances like this one." He drawled on in a bored tone. "Also, just to make things crystal clear between us, it's _my_ life that is screwed up right now. Not yours."

"How is my life yours?" Gale frowned.

"Because you are me."

"I can say the same thing back at you."

"Wha – but I existed first!" Vaati sat up, no longer lounging. It seemed he had not expected any resistance from Gale, and hearing this from his modern incarnation startled him. Vaati didn't enjoy being startled. "You are me, except you are missing my knowledge and memories that should have stayed with you if my spell had gone according to plan!"

"The new replaces the old." Gale crossed his arms. "Why should Vaati be greater than Gale? You're outdated like an old record player."

"Because I masterminded everything!"

"And look how seriously you fucked up!"

Vaati shook his head disapprovingly. "Tch. What vulgar language. _I_ have more class than to resort to such crude vocabulary."

"Would you just acknowledge my existence for once as someone different? I'm different from you, so don't try to fix me! You're just afraid of losing any control over yourself as Vaati!"

"And you're afraid of losing your identity to who you were supposed to be!"

Gale and Vaati were standing so close to each other that they almost had their noses touching. Vaati had stood up from his throne to face his modern counterpart, while Gale had met him halfway. The sound of their angry breathing gradually quieted as both calmed down. They turned away from each other, mumbling in a low voice.

"I just want to go back to the way I was…"

"I just want to go back to the way I was…"

They looked up in surprise, realizing they had said the same thing simultaneously. Vaati looked down at his feet. Sighing, he seemed to think for a little while before talking.

"I see…"

Gale looked down at his feet, too. He hated Vaati for the complications he had caused, but he could feel this hate was different from the way he would hate other people. This was self-hate, because as much as he didn't want to admit it right now, Gale and Vaati were one and the same. Vaati must have felt the same way.

A sad smile appeared on the sorcerer's face. "I propose a compromise." He slowly reached out a hand. "You acknowledge me, and I will acknowledge you. Memories are what make us, and if you really are me, then your memories must also be mine."

Gale stared at the hand offered to him. Was Vaati really giving up so soon to compromise? What a loser. A mischievous grin flashed on his face, and he turned the hand down. "What's this? Is the most powerful sorcerer in the world offering me a hand of truce? This is great."

Vaati glared daggers at his counterpart. "This is no time for levity."

"Hmm, I don't know about sharing with someone who's more of a diplomat than a will crushing tyrant. Come on, I want to see what was so great about you." Gale snickered. "Can you pull rabbits out of a hat?" Gale had lost some respect for the self-proclaimed most powerful sorcerer.

"I'm being civil because I see you as an equal, you fool," Vaati hissed. Then, he sighed tiredly. "I understand you're mocking me because I was the first one to let my guard down. I know, because I do the same thing to people."

"Now the sorcerer is a psychiatrist."

"I also gather that you agree to my compromise."

"I thought it was obvious, since I'm supposedly you." Gale grinned. "This is some super advanced self-reflection isn't it? You get to see what you're like by actually talking to yourself."

"Yes, though if you say it that way it sounds like I'm clinically insane."

"Hey, we actually might be."

"…Dear Nayru. People really must hate talking to me."

"Oh come on, you don't hate yourself."

"Actually, I hate you so much I wish your limbs would burn off in the lava plumes of Death Mountain and your body would be gorged by the dodongos. If you weren't here I wouldn't have had this problem of compromising my life with you."

"And that's another way of saying you get along with me."

"Are you an idiot? It does not."

"Oh please. I would think I know myself best." The two were sitting on the armrests of the throne now. Gale leaned against the throne's back, regarding his sorcerer self with mild amusement. "You're even worse than me, I reckon."

"And why is that?"

"Because I don't do half the things I think of because I know the consequences wouldn't be worth it. You, on the other hand, think you can get away with the consequences so you can act like a total, arrogant sob."

"I don't _think_ I can get away with things. I _know_."

"Right, because who in their right minds would mess with the world's most powerful sorcerer?"

A small smile emerged on Vaati's face. "Exactly."

"So… we're probably not so different in the way we see things."

"Not at all."

"In the way we act."

"No."

"In the way we make decisions."

"One and the same. However, you might discover you were a nastier person than you once thought when you become spoiled by sorcery again."

"You think I can't handle that?"

Vaati paused. "No. I am positive your peers wouldn't be able to."

After some time, Gale's lips contorted into a crooked smirk. Something in his mind seemed to have clicked. "I like you already. How about I wake myself up and we get revenge on Link for all that he's put us through?"

Vaati turned his head slowly. An identical smile appeared on his face as well. "So much for worrying about sharing identities with you. Perhaps we'll get along just fine." He stretched his arms and cracked his knuckles. "Ready to try some sorcery for the first time in a couple thousand years?"

Gale nodded, his eyes glinting devilishly. "Oh hells yes."

XXXXXXXX

Link, Zelda, and Dark held their breaths, all huddled beside the unconscious Gale. They had been caught by surprise when he had collapsed to the smooth floor without warning, trembling from head to toe while crawling on his hands and knees. Zelda had been the first to run up to him to support him, but Gale hadn't noticed her presence at all since his blood red eyes were fixed onto the Master Sword in Link's hand. For some time the pale teen had been attempting to ruthlessly claw the sword out of Link's hand, and Zelda and Dark had to keep him back to prevent him from cutting himself.

Just when Gale had ferociously freed his arms from his two friends' grasps, he had screamed a sharp "STOP!" and his eyes had rolled up while he crumpled to the floor limply.

All in all, the whole thing had been a frightening sight to the rest of the three.

"He's breathing fine, and I can still feel his pulse," Zelda declared, Gale's wrist between her slim fingers. Dark knelt beside her.

"What happened to him?"

"Vaati presumably cursed himself with a very powerful spell," Link joined the other two, carefully placing the Master Sword next to him and away from Gale. "This sword is also known to remove certain curses. Gale – or Vaati for all we know – is probably in shock."

"Will he be all right?"

On cue, there was a groan from Gale. One freakishly white hand moved up to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. His eyes squeezed tightly, and the three teens around him backed away as his eyes opened slowly. There was a blank, disbelieving look on his face as he hoisted himself onto his elbows.

"Gale…?" Zelda asked cautiously.

Red eyes swiveled over to Zelda. They widened for a split second in surprise, and then softened as the boy relaxed. However, it was not "soft" in the pleasant, cuddly sense. Oh no. It was "soft" as in the way a leopard might watch a baby gazelle separated from its parents. "Princess Zelda," Gale murmured.

There was a metallic click as Link picked up the Master Sword from the floor while simultaneously offering Gale a hand to stand up. It wasn't just a helpful gesture – by doing so Link had effectively blocked Gale from Zelda. Mute, Link's intense, analyzing gaze bore into Gale's.

Gale returned a thin-lipped smile. "Why, thank you Link," he said icily to the surprise of Dark and Zelda; his voice was more vicious than necessary. Link seemed to have expected this reaction. What he didn't expect, however, was being thrown violently against the wall of the temple by an invisible force. The other two exclaimed in shock and Dark momentarily made for Gale. He stopped short when the pale teen brushed himself from the floor and shot a cool sidelong look that sent chills up Dark's spine.

"Put me down," Link demanded sternly. He scowled when he tried moving his arms but found them pinned firmly to the wall by air pressure.

A chuckle even nastier than the usual Gale-chuckle escaped his lips. Striding towards Link gleefully, Gale tapped his chin playfully. "What was that?"

"I said put me down, Vaati."

"Vaati…?" Zelda repeated Link quietly. "But… Gale, don't you recognize us?"

Vaati turned with a bright, arrogant smile. He tittered. "Dear Princess Zelda. What makes you assume that I am no longer Gale?"

"Gale's not like you." She said more defiantly, trying to mask her disconcerted waver. She could feel a darkness that hadn't been present before. Dark agreed, standing up to the sorcerer.

"She's right. Gale was an asshole, but a good asshole. You, on the other hand…" he just shook his head, unable to put in words what he could feel about the Wind Mage.

Vaati laughed in amusement. "Haha! Gale is exactly who I am. You only think different of me because Gale was too confused to act on his thoughts. I, on the other hand, know exactly what I want and who I am." Vaati snapped his fingers and Link went smashing into the other side of the wall. There was a loud smack, and Link flopped to the floor like a wet rag. "I am Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds; or rather, Vaati Engst. After a long, painful struggle, I finally return and I want nothing more than to see you dead, Link. You have been the source of my misery for far too long."

Flicking his wrist again, Link was dragged across the floor until Dark lunged at Vaati in an attempt to attack him. Another flick, and Link went flying into Dark, and the two boys groaned in a tangled mess. His face full of disgust and contempt, Vaati looked down his nose at the two Links.

"Luckily for you, however, I am not going to destroy you just yet. I'm loathe to admit it, but you do have your uses."

Link coughed, and then glared. "I'm having second thoughts about bringing you back. You're even worse than I imagined. At least Gale was manageable."

Vaati shrugged. "You guys really don't get it, do you? I am still the Gale you knew except with a few extra recollections, most of them unpleasant." Vaati face twitched. "For instance, Gale had no reason to hate you, Link. Well, except maybe the fact you showed up on his front doorstep to annoy the living daylights out of him. Now, however, I have countless memories on how you and your reincarnations made my life so difficult. I have every reason to want to kill you. That is the only difference."

The sorcerer's eyes wandered over to Zelda. The girl began to feel uncomfortable from being scrutinized, and she fidgeted before finally demanding, "What?"

As though he were waiting for her to ask, Vaati's grin widened and he vanished into thin air. Zelda felt a slight gust behind her, and she froze when she heard Vaati's voice terrifyingly close to the back of her neck. "Another example. As both Gale and Vaati, I've wanted to see what would happen if I did this," his breath was so close Zelda felt goose bumps rising. Whirling around, she brought her hand up in defense, but Vaati merely caught it with an iron grip. Before she could protest, the sorcerer forcefully pulled her waist closer and hungrily kissed her.

In shock, Zelda tried to push Vaati away and she squirmed to escape his grasp, but when his free hand moved up to her cheek to coax her to calm down, all she could do was let him take control. There were conflicting emotions of disgust and… and something she refused to admit. Cheeks burning, Zelda stuttered when he was done. "You…you…"

"Now can you honestly tell me you didn't like it?" Vaati purred with an evil little smile.

Zelda clammed up with her breathing shallow and her face bright red. She attempted to hide her face behind the white cloth around the neck of her Harajuku outfit in bewildered embarrassment.

Noting her reaction, the womanizing wind mage smiled smugly. "There, see? I'm still the same old Gale except with a different name." Just then, Vaati felt the edge of a sword pressed against his neck. He sized up Link who had the most furious look on his face – something close to murderous intent. "Put that down, Petrov."

"Stand down Vaati. If you're not going to help us, I have to defeat you."

Dark appeared surprised. "Whoa, Link, are you actually willing to kill him?"

Link nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off of Vaati who was finding the entire situation entertaining. The sorcerer barely noticed he had a sword dangerously close to his throat, and sounded too elated of his renewed power to care about anything else.

"Indeed Dark is right. Unlike the old days where any so-called hero could be stab-happy with their sword, murder of anyone including criminals is highly frowned upon in this age. You are not to judge who lives and who dies." With one finger, Vaati pushed the point away from his neck. It would have been a smooth move had he not winced from the Master Sword's holy touch. "Ouch," he shook his hand before regaining his composure with a slightly irritated tone in his voice. "Not that I can be killed by the likes of you."

"It'll be self defense."

"Kukuku, what, I haven't done anything serious yet and I've already announced I'm going to keep you alive. I don't see any problem."

"Why should we trust you? Even the goddesses don't trust you!"

"Well you should have thought of that before helping me get my memories back. I recall you were the one who nagged incessantly to help me remember."

"I didn't have a choice! The world is going to flood and we – "

Vaati interrupted him, haughtily waving him away. "I know, I know. I heard it a billion times from you already and keep hearing it isn't making the experience any better. So there, see? Threatening to kill me won't do any good if you need my help. You should be groveling on the floor to persuade me to help you because frankly," Vaati grinned, a little bit of Gale showing through in his demeanor as he shrugged lazily, "I don't care a rats ass about what happens when it floods."

"…What the hell man," Dark shook his head disbelievingly.

"More beaches for everyone, I say. And now that I know my skin condition isn't actually from albinism but because I'm an awesome sorcerer," Vaati flipped his pair of sunglasses off the top of his head, "I can enjoy the sun without these." Vaati turned to Zelda who was still petrified from what had happened earlier. "Don't you like beaches, princess?"

"Are you going to take this seriously or not?" Link growled, "because we're running out of time. If we screw up here you will be the first one I go after."

"What a temper." Vaati teleported a few paces away from Link. "I say you're just jealous I got to kiss your girl."

Whether the normally calm Link had gone beet red from fury or embarrassment was anybody's guess. Just before things could turn ugly, Zelda snapped out of her shock and ran up to Link, hugging him tightly by the waist to prevent him from rushing at Vaati. "Stop it! Both of you stop it!" She then snapped away from Link, wringing her hands together in a befuddled state. It seemed she was hurt and confused by Vaati as well as Link, and looked at them pleadingly to somehow make everything clearer. "I… I think I know you both…" she said shakily, and then broke down on the floor, overwhelmed by thoughts. "I don't know where, I don't know why, I just… it's like I should remember you but I can't see anything clearly."

While Link moved over to comfort the confused girl, Vaati watched with scholarly curiosity. "Hmmm, interesting. It appears that reviving this temple and breaking my curse has the effect of bringing back past memories of past lives," Vaati mused. "I wonder if Ganon is going through something similar right now."

There was a slight pause, and then with a sudden change in mood the air around the sorcerer became several degrees colder. He was still smiling, but it was no longer cheerfully confident but full of bitter anger. "Oh dear. I almost forgot about that lying Gerudo scum. How could I forget how he tried to take advantage of me like an underling?"

Before Vaati went into a monologue of how he was going to make Ganon pay, Link's darker counterpart had decided he had had enough. "All right, so I know a lot has happened in the last ten minutes but all I really want to know is this," Dark's impatient voice made the three of them look up, "are we still working together or not?"

They had almost forgotten about him since he had been the least affected by the sorcerer's return. Dark continued with an irritated edge. "I mean, to be perfectly honest, I only met you guys a few days ago and I don't have to be with you guys anymore if you're not going to help me get further in my own goals." He crossed his arms. "I want to damage Avilux any way I can because I hate them." He nodded at Link and Zelda. "You want to stop Avilux because they can destroy the world we know." He then turned his head to Vaati. "And you. What do you want? Are you just going to stand there and be all high and mighty, or are you actually going to do something to help?"

Vaati had a scowl on his face that clearly stated he didn't like Dark's comment about him. However, he let it slide, and thought aloud, "Having some experience with the maidens, I suppose it's not entirely farfetched that they would have a foolish failsafe against 'evil.'" He paced around, and then stopped in front of the stained glass window with the royal family's crest. "As much as I would like to see Ganon's face when the world begins to flood, I would prefer to punish him myself."

"So we're in agreement. Link? Zelda?"

They nodded slowly, cautious about committing to their decision. Dark breathed a sigh of relief, and then waved a hand at the sorcerer.

"All right Gale – er, I mean Vaati -," he corrected himself and then continued, "show us where to go."

Vaati huffed, adjusting the collar of his sweatshirt a little. At the same time, there was excitement in his red eyes that he couldn't quite conceal. "Heh, to the Palace of Winds it is."

* * *

fleets: So, I didn't really know what to do about the first half of this chapter with Dark. It wasn't in the original story outline, but I realized I couldn't just ignore the fact that the poor kid felt like he killed his dad twice and pretend he was fine. Life doesn't happen like that :(. Meh. Now, the second part though... ohemgee I missed writing like this, with all the Vaati arrogance. It might appear that Gale's character has disappeared, but I assure you it will be addressed. This is just the intro to a series of long awaited sorcerer mayhem XD

**Kishoto: **Hello, and thank you for the review :) Yeah, BC was (and still is) my favorite story written to date, and it will be hard for me to beat that story. One of these days I'm going to rewrite it so its quality can be as good as my later stories.**  
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**Midna Hytwilian: **Gale is the same amount of awful as Vaati as demonstrated in this chapter. And by awful we mean awesome.**  
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**Shadow Blues: **Well, Dugal is sneaky in that he caught them both when they'd sustained injuries in stressful situations (i.e. Link was knocked unconscious, Dark was slashed in multiple places). The cuts aren't that big either, only a few inches long ;) Yeahhhhh finals blowwww D:**  
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**henslight: **That voice is anything but sweet. It'll come up again for sure...  
Sure you can do a fanart :) I usually see him in skating outfit since he likes longboarding, or just a simple hoodie/jeans outfit since he's lazy (but stylish enough since he's mindful of how he looks). Nope, not English at all! I'm actually thrilled I was able to hide the fact I was a non-native :D  
And yup! You were right about seeing something from Gale/Vaati **  
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**Vaati the wind mage1: **w00t! It makes me happiest when I can get a reaction from people reading my stories :)**  
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**Astral S. Kepeire: **Haha, yeah, I do update at night these days. Mostly because I have no time during the day... urk.  
And now Vaati is baaaaaackkkk! finally. I didn't know if I could wait any longer.  
Wow, nothing escapes you huh? The voice that is yet to be introduced hasn't really revealed anything about her nature yet, so to answer your question - you haven't missed a thing. I did sneak that in there deliberately (the word "free") but didn't think anyone would actually catch it and think something was up. Kudos! It'll be mentioned again in the future.  
Ah I was wondering about that - I definitely felt a twinge of guilt when I reread those parts you mentioned because I had a teeny tiny hunch that they had been rushed. Note to self - revise in future.  
And speaking of rushing... oh godsyegods this was SO difficult not to rush. Hope I did a decent job :O**  
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**Reily96: **It just hit me how much I missed Vaati-speak after I wrote this chapter :)**  
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**Sapphiet: **AW YEAH VAATI'S IN THIS CHAPTER! ...sorry I got a little excited there.**  
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**Ephriokko: **Sometimes it's a struggle not to make this whole story without a speck of seriousness. Sticking true to my intended plot keeps me in track, however :)**  
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**Arctos: **Make way for Vaati Engst, the wind mage of 2010 XD**  
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**i-wish-799: **Way back when I first made the outline for the story, Dark wasn't in this at all. Now, though, he's become an integral part and is here to stay :)**  
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**LunaticEyesInaba: **Oh gosh, I hope this chapter didn't let you down! I totally had fun writing it though XD**  
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	23. The Chaotic Neutral

fleets: wooowwww, thank you everyone for all of those reviews O.o

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**Chapter 22: The Chaotic Neutral**

Even though Vaati's previous arrogance had everyone convinced that he would be able to take them to the Palace of Winds without a problem, the sorcerer was trying to hide the fact that he was still feeling shaky with some of his spells. To say he was feeling rusty was the understatement of the century; his mind was as foggy as the smog over Los Angeles.

Because even with his big words earlier about his complete return, he had lived more lives as an alter ego without the knowledge of magic: on the inside, he was still the average, jaded teenager that was Gale.

How did he warp again? And how the heck did he get to his palace? He'd been able to knock Link around with a basic wind spell earlier, but that had been spurred from his pent-up frustration for the blond pest. This lack of confidence was, as the world's most powerful sorcerer, painfully humiliating.

Vaati noticed the other three waiting expectantly, and gave them all a long look. "I need some time, okay?" He sighed, and tried to jog his mind for some hint. It surfaced slowly, reminding him of those times where multiple choice answers on history tests would vaguely float around his mind. Oy, how stupid he thought those history tests were. He could give his history teachers a first hand lesson about the past now…

Vaati snapped his fingers, and everyone flinched. Getting into his self-confident character again, the wind sorcerer smirked. "All right kids, I hope you're ready." There was a violent turbulence and the small group that had come together in a strange turn of events vanished in a flash.

XXXXXXXXX

The sunglasses propped on Kestrel's nose wiggled when the man squinted through the tinted lenses at the small laptop monitor. He gently pulled the lenses down to see if they were the reason he could no longer see the two yellow dots that had previously been present on the computer screen. Talon Three's program master completely took his shades off after staring at the screen some more.

Where did the dots disappear? The tracking devices planted on the target and his friend should still have a sufficient battery life so they couldn't have died out already. He stared at it some more, daring them to reappear at a moments notice. All he got in return, however, was the soft glow of the laptop between the dark surroundings of the ancient trees.

Frowning, Kestrel immediately pressed the button on his earpiece that would allow him to contact his other teammates. "Condor!" he whispered urgently while making sure no one was around. There was a slight buzz, and then Condor's gruff voice answered in a hush.

"What is it?"

Kestrel's finger tapped the empty radar screen on his laptop, and he brushed away a leaf that had wandered onto the keyboard. "I've lost the signal from both targets. Can you check with your proximity radar to see if it's only my computer that's not catching the transmissions?"

There was a pause, and then, "Mine's not catching anything either."

Cursing under his breath, Kestrel straightened his tie and punched in a few commands on his keyboard before shaking his head. "Here, I'm going to contact Dugal and put you on conference call. We lost them about a quarter of a mile North-East from your current location, so – "

"Got it. I'll go check it out."

Kestrel momentarily hung up with Condor, and then pressed a different button on his earpiece to get in touch with Dugal. "Sir, we have a problem."

When Dugal came on the other end of the line, he didn't sound too pleased. "What is it?"

Kestrel wished the dots to reappear again. Based on his previous experiences with Dugal, he wasn't too keen on working with him when he was unhappy. "The signals from the tracking devices have… disappeared…"

There were a few seconds of dreadful silence, and Kestrel slowly picked up his sunglasses and put them back on in hopes that shielding his eyes from the world would make everything less nerve-wracking. He wondered what Condor was thinking, since he was sure his partner was listening in on the conversation.

Finally, Dugal said slowly, "Kestrel, are you sure those ridiculous shades of yours aren't blocking your view of the computer screen?"

Kestrel guiltily brought a hand up to his sunglasses. "…No sir. The dots are completely gone. Condor's proximity reader isn't picking anything up either, sir."

"Ah, so you're not doing anything stupid like wearing sunglasses in the middle of a sunless forest."

"No sir," Kestrel replied quickly, hastily propping his shades back on top of his head.

"Mmm, well anyway, you've lost their signals. That's troublesome indeed…"

Rubbing his eyes, Kestrel waited patiently for whatever wrath his boss was going to deliver. He wished he could put his shades back on since they gave him a sense of security, but more than anything he wished the signals to return even if they proved to be fake. Any signal was better than no signal.

A faint flicker on the radar screen caught the Asian man's attention. Upon closer inspection, he saw that his wish had actually come true; two yellow dots had reappeared on the screen where they had disappeared. Kestrel would have cried out in surprise if his degree of professionalism didn't keep his mouth firmly shut. Instead, he began cautiously, "Sir, we have the signals back." Kestrel's head jerked closer towards the radar, causing his sunglasses to drop back onto his nose. He watched Condor's dot approach the two yellow dots on the screen. "Condor? Condor! Careful, the signals have reappeared and you're closing in on them."

Condor's dot stopped momentarily before it reached the two yellow dots, and then it inched forward until it was on top of them. Kestrel's face contorted into one of puzzlement. What in Farore's name was Condor doing? There was a buzz, and Condor's voice came through that was equally puzzled.

"There's… no one here. But the signals are from the coordinates I'm standing on…"

There was a sharp cough, reminding the two that Dugal was still listening. "So there's no problem with catching the signals anymore?" He sounded a little bored.

"Well, maybe." Kestrel began typing frantically into his computer to check for bugs.

"Mmhmm, mhmm, I see." They could just see Dugal nodding to himself. "Condor, check the ground to see if the tracking chips were removed."

"Yes sir. I've been checking the ground but I haven't been having any luck so far sir."

Dugal's voice became harder to hear when his voice softened thoughtfully. "There's no luck to it. If they're not there they're not there…" After some time, Dugal seemed to have caught the hesitation behind the static of Condor's line. "Something's worrying you, Condor?"

Condor's breath caught, and there was a slight rustle as the man shifted his weight. "Well… it's nothing."

"Out with it."

"Er, I just thought I saw something like rubble from a ruin, but it seems to be a trick of the light."

Kestrel sighed, addressing Dugal. "Sir, I wouldn't have believed it before, but now I don't think it's so farfetched that some of the stories about Aokigahara are true." He expected Dugal to scoff and dismiss his idea as ridiculous like he did half the time, so his eyebrows almost shot off his face in surprise when his boss actually took him seriously.

"I was beginning to consider that possibility," Dugal agreed. He waited for his two subordinates to stop stumbling over themselves in shock that Kestrel's partly joking comment was being considered. "I have some orders for you two."

"Y-yes sir!" Kestrel stammered.

"Sir!"

"Get yourselves together," Dugal said irritably. Then, "I want both of you to stay there and find out what happened to the tracking devices. However, I'm going to be perfectly honest when I say I don't think you'll find them in the forest anymore." The man stood up from his desk and put on his jacket. Straightening his purple tie, he did a quick walk around the house to make sure the traces of him and Hawk being there was left to a minimum. Once convinced he was satisfied, Dugal strolled out of the house. "I'm going fox hunting, and I will contact you again when I'm done."

There was a click when Dugal disconnected abruptly, and the sound was wincingly loud in the eerily quiet forest. It left the other two hanging. Kestrel blinked, bringing the hand on his earpiece down slowly. He watched the two yellow dots move around a little on the radar, and Condor's green dot wiggle with puzzlement in its movement. "Well," his partner's voice sounded through the device, "not much we can do if he's going fox hunting."

"Right…"

"… I'll let you know if I find something."

"Same here."

There was another click with Condor disconnecting. With a hiss of breath, Kestrel leaned against the rotting log propped behind him. He shook his head, slightly relieved yet nervous about the recent developments. 'Fox hunting' was Dugal's way of telling Talon Three that he was going to be very mad at them if they contacted him for anything besides emergencies. It also meant that something had caught his attention, and he had determined that it would be faster if he went out to finish the assignment by himself. It always left the rest of the team feeling pretty useless. Kestrel fiddled with the Argos tracking program for a little more, and zoomed out so he could see Dugal's dot on the radar as well. It was moving quickly along the roads in the direction opposite to where they were. _Huh, seems like he's heading for the airport_. He grinned a little, enjoying the fact he was technically spying on his boss. Condor's proximity radar had a field that was too small for this kind of thing.

Ah, poor Condor. He must be bored to tears from trying to find the pinky-nail sized tracking chips somewhere in the dirt; not to mention Dugal had sounded positive he wouldn't be able to find them there.

"By the way, Kestrel?" _Speak of the devil it was Condor._ Kestrel sat up a little.

"Mmm?"

"You_ can_ help me, you know. You're less than a ten minute walk from me."

"Ah ah? Sorry, I'm very busy with programming now. Speak with Hawk instead, please." Kestrel smiled gleefully, letting his Japanese accent come out a little.

There was a pause as though Condor was struggling to stay professional. "…Kestrel?"

"Yes?"

"Screw you."

XXXXXXXXX

Link had already experienced extreme heights when he'd adventured to Death Mountain in the past. He thought he would be used to the thin air and the cool chill that came with increased altitude, but boy was he wrong. The first reaction the four of them had upon arrival to the Palace was to press their fingers against their temples and cringe with the onset of ringing pain in their eardrums from reduced air pressure.

"Aaarrghh, ah damn it I forgot…" Vaati groaned, and then waved his hand. A flickering blue light moved around them, and Link felt their discomfort gradually dissipate. For several seconds, they all took deep, gulping breaths from the lack of oxygen in the thin air before Vaati's spell made them accustomed to their surroundings.

"Jeez, that felt awful," Dark wheezed. "A gradual ascent we can handle, but a sudden one? I'm surprised none of us exploded into a bloody mess."

Sniffing indignantly, Vaati pulled his hood over his head when the cool chill nipped his ears. He wasn't about to admit he was still far from what his level of mastery once was. "You're welcome for inviting you pests to my Palace."

As soon as his words were out of his mouth, a cold, unwelcoming wind stole them away. It was then that the little group really noticed the place they had arrived at. With the onset of the wind, Vaati's eyes widened in surprise at how empty it felt to him.

The Palace of Winds was dying.

From his foggy memories, the sorcerer had foolishly expected the Palace to be as it had once been. Time and erosion hadn't done the place any favors, and he could see most of the place was falling apart. The white walls were cracking like splintered porcelain, and the pollution that had followed the water droplets to the sky had transformed the brilliant shine into charcoal grime. Acid had also corroded some of the stone into ugly, bumpy chunks.

The wind howled a mourning song through the archways, and he watched Dark and Zelda inch their way nervously to the edge of the platform they were on to look over the edge. They giggled happily, reaching out to touch the clouds that passed by. Besides the sorcerer, the rest of them seemed to find the Palace of Winds mystical and enchanting.

For Vaati, this place was haunting.

He had set his expectations too high, and his excitement of finally returning to his former lair had blocked any notion that it would only be a ghost of what it had once been. The reality of the time that had passed since he had been dubbed the Sorcerer of Winds really struck home.

Vaati wandered away from the little courtyard to the corridor leading inside. Out of the corner of his eye, Link saw Vaati separate himself from the group. Tightening his grip on his sword, Link followed him, leaving Dark and Zelda to continue awing at the magical nature of the Palace that they were still unused to.

He found the sorcerer standing in the middle of a magnificent hall where ancient relics were piled around the walls. They were strewn about in a "neat mess," just like you might do when throwing your junk into a closet out of sight from guests. Faded purple tapestries were draped along the walls, and melted wax froze in mid-drip in the lanterns left unlit for hundreds of years. Vaati knelt down and picked up a green hexagonal cut gem.

"That's a rupee."

Vaati looked up at the sound of Link's voice. "I'm aware."

"Oh. Sorry, it's easy to forget you know about the old days," Link apologized. "When you were Gale you refused to acknowledge anything that had to do with the past."

"I _am_ still Gale you know," Vaati muttered. "I just like my original name better, especially since I have a better understanding of what had happened to me."

Out of habit, Link reached into his pocket for his rupee bag. Finding a wallet instead, he put it back with a shrug of his shoulders and knelt down next to Vaati. He picked up a red rupee and played with it in his hands. "Can I ask you something?" Link asked the rupee in his hands. "Or will I have to get my sword at the ready for you blowing up at me?"

Upon noticing Link holding a rupee in a similar fashion, Vaati dropped his like a rotten egg where it tinkled on the hard floor. "That depends on the question, doesn't it?" He gave Link a withering look.

Link gave a short laugh. "Heh, do you hate me that much?"

Vaati smiled despite himself. "Was that actually your question? Of course I do. Everything I've worked for was taken away by you."

"Well, no, that wasn't really my question."

"Then out with it already. I'm not a patient person," the sorcerer snapped.

Link sighed, glancing behind him. Dark and Zelda were still busy looking around the palace in wonder. The blond hero fiddled with the rupee some more. "… What do you have against everything?"

Vaati frowned. "What the hell kind of question is that?"

Link shrugged. "Well, isn't it true that you used to go around trying to take over the world like you had a vendetta?" His blue eyes turned to the wind mage. When Vaati avoided his gaze, he pressed on. "I just don't understand. I don't understand types like you and Ganondorf where you're not satisfied with what you have, so you try to take everything by force."

"Don't compare me with that desert pig," Vaati growled.

"You're avoiding my question."

There was a clatter as Vaati's hand shot out and gripped Link's collar in a menacing choke, causing the other teen to drop the rupee he had been holding. In a soft hiss of breath, Vaati snarled. "You really know how to push my buttons, boy."

Freeing his throat from Vaati's tight grip, Link coughed. "I just find it odd."

Vaati narrowed his eyes, and then abruptly let Link go so that he dropped to the floor. Crossing his arms, he arched one eyebrow, demanding Link to elaborate. "What?"

"Do you _still_ say you're the same as Gale? Are you completely serious about that?"

"Yeah," Vaati scoffed, a little annoyed that no one seemed to believe him.

"To me, Gale didn't seem too keen on taking over the world, but you sound almost obsessed. If Gale and Vaati are one and the same, then where does the difference come from?" Link shook his head slowly. "It's something from the past, isn't it?" Vaati's expression flickered, but of what, Link couldn't tell. However, the sorcerer's silence was all he needed to realize that he had hit a bit of truth.

"Vaati, the past is more than 8000 years ago. Let it go."

"I… I can't." The sorcerer surprised Link when he stammered, unsure of himself. His strong exterior had finally crumbled, and behind it Link was able to see that Gale was, in fact, still Gale. Crows feet appeared on the teen's forehead when his brows scrunched together. "It's all I've lived for. At least… that's what it feels like. I can't remember anything besides the driving feeling that I have to be the best." He hesitated, and then his eyes hardened once more as though realizing how weak he must have sounded. "I need to prove myself."

Link shook his head. "But why? For what?" He wanted to shake the sorcerer by the shoulders to knock some sense into him. "From all the time I've spent with you I know you're not unreasonable. You don't have to feel like you need to go against the entire world."

"What would you know?" Vaati hissed, lashing out. "You, who probably never had to work to be noticed. It took a lot of effort for me to reach the level of prominence I have today," he shot.

Link looked taken aback for a few seconds, and then blinked. "You're wrong," he said slowly, "I do know."

Now it was Vaati's turn to be surprised. His voice caught, and he closed his mouth that had been open in mid-sentence. This had been a completely unexpected response, since every other incarnation of Link he had fought before had been an annoyingly naïve one who had seemed untainted to the unfairness of life. Vaati sneered at Link skeptically. "You do, do you?"

Link walked over to a vase that was flipped upside-down and sat on top of it. "I grew up with the Kokiri, but I was never really one of them. I was ostracized because they thought I was a fairy-less freak."

Vaati's disbelieving gaze softened and disappeared. Ostracism – he was familiar with that one. However, he wasn't about to give this one to Link yet, so he continued to listen with a scornful look.

"To start things off, they just found me in the forest and no one really knew where I came from besides the Great Deku Tree – who, by the way, didn't feel it necessary to mention to me until people needed a hero. Heh," Link gave a slightly bitter huff. "Secondly, I didn't have a fairy of my own. I didn't realize it was because I wasn't actually a Kokiri at the time, so the others almost had me convinced I was a defect. Most of them treated me like I was missing a head or something. I almost broke, you know. Some days I wanted to hurt Mido and the rest so badly. Can you believe that? Me, a destiny chosen hero, one who is supposed to be full of pure intentions, wanting to hurt someone?"

Vaati didn't say anything. He shifted his weight, seemingly bothered by something and his eyes wandered around the room.

"I knew it was wrong though, so I tried my best to ignore them. My best friend Saria helped me keep my sanity, too." Link sighed. "After I left the Kokiri, I eventually found out that Mido didn't really hate me. I later found the courage to forgive." He looked at the sorcerer who was staring at the floor. "I was wary about trusting you at first, and even in the beginning I told you that if I didn't need your help, I would have wanted nothing to do with you. The stories I heard about you disgusted me, because they reminded me so much of what Ganondorf was like."

At the sound of the Gerudo's name, Vaati's eyes narrowed but he kept his silence. Link continued.

"But after spending time with you, I have a feeling you might be different than that evil man. Gale wasn't evil – he was just… difficult to get along with. I don't want to follow my predecessors in killing you again because I know you're not like Ganondorf."

Vaati stood up abruptly, his expression tense and irritated. Shooting a terse look at Link, he turned on his heel. Just before he reached the end of the corridor, he took a deep, tiresome breath. "Was I too weak to forgive and forget?" Then, he stormed off angrily and out of sight.

"Wait, no, you're taking this the wrong way!" Link jumped off the vase suddenly, making it crash to the floor and crack. Ignoring the rupees that clattered out of the vase, he followed Vaati only to find the sorcerer had disappeared. Alone in the dim hall of the palace, the blond shook his head. "If fate hadn't forced me to be the hero, I might have been like you too…"

XXXXXXXXX

Pale, sickly fingers that hadn't seen the light of day for months nervously tugged at the collar of Dr. Willits' ironed lab coat. The sleeves sagged from being a few sizes too large for the thin doctor, and his other hand occasionally moved them out of his way. The doctor fidgeted nervously in front of the dark skinned, formidable, and highly intimidating man in front of him. "Mr. Ganon, I'm sorry but we're not ready to make a full demonstration yet. We still have to test out some kinks to make sure nothing goes wrong, especially after one of our assistants was burned the last time." Though physically taller than most people, Dr. Willits had shrunk to a laughable size with his shoulders cringing under the other man's boring gaze. His boss and idol wanted to see the complete demonstration of the zeron now, and his team wasn't ready for that.

On their last run, Skull Kid had managed to conjure a fire fairy as large as a beach ball – the largest one they had seen so far. With the doctor's machine, they had been able to stabilize the thing to keep it from vanishing, but when they had tried to turn it off it had flared out at one of his assistants who had ventured too close. The assistant had suffered second-degree burns, and the entire lab was deeply disturbed by the incident. It was an unspoken truth that there was a highly likely scenario that the fire things had a mind of their own, and this had the possibility of upsetting the entire research. After all, who would want a weapon… er, "infinite energy source," that was sentient? It would be uncontrollable and therefore dangerous. "I can show you around the facility instead?"

Ganon's steely gaze remained fixed where they were. "I've already seen the facility before, Stan. I want to see your latest project; I flew all the way over here from business in Indonesia because I had heard you had made progress."

"Uh… well, we were worried about safety…"

The crime lord brushed his hand across his red-brown hair. "Tell me," he leaned forward, his crooked nose inches away from the doctor's face, "did I ever give you the impression I care about safety?"

"No sir…" the doctor mumbled. He shuffled away, grabbing the keys out of his pocket. He dared to make one more comment. "I don't see why there's a need to rush though."

Ganon gave a smile the doctor had come to fear seeing. "I had a premonition," his eagle eyes glinted, "those kids who gave you trouble earlier are still running around somewhere, and they're going to come back and upset this operation if we don't hurry."

"Isn't the infamous Talon Three doing their job?" Dr. Willits said the name with disgust. "Dugal always gloats about never failing his assignments."

"I haven't heard from Dugal for some time," Ganon said flatly. "I believe he's become distracted by something. At any rate, he will have to consider himself unemployed when he returns – I have had to question his loyalty one too many times," he chuckled darkly.

The doctor laughed along nervously, glad that he wasn't in Dugal's position. He felt no sympathy for the arrogant man who he hated with a passion, but he did pity him for what he had in store: no one should ever get on the wrong side of Ganon. "Alright sir. I'll go fetch Skull Kid now."

Fifteen minutes later, the doctor returned with the cat-eyed boy rattling off with bubbly energy. The sleeves of the boy's oversized sweatshirt flopped around as he waved them around excitedly, and they hit the doctor several times before they were held firmly in place with a stern, pale hand. Ganon could pick up some of the boy's frantic talking from where he was standing.

"It's almost perfect Dr. Skinny! You're going to be so proud of me that you're going to get me something nice again. The song is so good now, but I know it's not perfect yet because if it _were_ perfect then it would sound even better. And when it's perfect you'll be…" Skull Kid trailed off at the sight of the imposing desert man. The boy almost fell forward when he stopped walking, and the doctor, still holding onto his arm, continued to move forward. Dr. Willits turned around to see what was wrong.

"Come along now," he tugged the boy's arm. At the same time, he threw an apologetic glance towards Ganon.

Skull Kid raised his chin towards the doctor, but kept his eyes on the man. "Who's Big Nose?" he whispered. He yelped when the doctor yanked his arm sternly.

"Be more respectful! That's Mr. Ganon, and he's a very important man."

"I don't like the way he's looking at me…" Skull Kid mumbled, inching behind the doctor.

The doctor couldn't really blame the boy, because Ganon was looking at him with both interest and revulsion. He figured his boss didn't like kids much, and Skull Kid was an especially difficult one to deal with. Ganon took a few strides forward, closing the gap between them.

"Ah, so this is the boy?" he said half-heartedly. The doctor nodded.

"Yes. And he can do extraordinary things with that Ocarina. Can't you, boy?" He asked Skull Kid, praying he would be obedient today.

Skull Kid nodded, still mistrustful of the visitor.

"Can you play like you always do for Mr. Ganon here?"

The doctor panicked slightly when Skull Kid made a disagreeable face. "He'll be mean to me if he doesn't like it."

"What? Haha, that's just nonsense. Mr. Ganon wouldn't be mean to you in the least," the doctor laughed nervously. Somewhere in the back of Dr. Willits' panicked mind, a part of him was paralyzed in disbelief that he had just said that. Now _that_ was a lie if he'd ever heard one. Apparently Ganon had found that to be a stupid thing to say as well.

"Stan, you shouldn't lie to kids." He knelt down so that he was at the boy's level, and put a hand intimidating enough to make a bear run on Skull Kid's shoulders. "I'll be very mean to you if you don't do what the doctor asks you to do, boy," Ganon growled.

Skull Kid's usually mischievously cheerful demeanor disappeared. Instead, he was a timid little boy who seemed to be regretting a prank that had gone too far. Skull Kid nodded slowly, and he winced when the bear claw patted him roughly on the shoulders.

"Good." Standing up and straightening out his jacket, Ganon turned to the doctor. "May I see the demonstration, doctor?"

"Yes of course!" The doctor hurried Skull Kid over to the machine he had been working on for months, and barked some orders to his staff. He was slightly bossier than usual since he wanted to show his boss that he was reliable. This part was crucial, since he was pretty sure that something was going to go horribly wrong today – they still hadn't been able to figure out what had caused the fire beings to attack, and the doctor knew it could very well happen again. He was even more worried since Skull Kid had been excited about editing his song, and any time that happened the fire fairies came back bigger and fiercer. At least if he looked assertive right now, the doctor figured, the damage to his reputation would be lessened in his boss's eyes. "All right, we're ready for you Skull Kid." He cringed when one of his assistant's cell phones rang loudly. "Damn it Nakajima, I thought I told you to turn your cell phone off." He sighed, noticing his boss didn't seem amused.

Everyone looked up when the clear sound of an ocarina sang an expertly done rendition of the cell phone ring tone. Skull Kid blew the last note softly, and then his Cheshire cat grin slowly crept up the corner of his mouth. "That's it… I finally got it." He talked rapidly to an unseen person for a while, and the rest of the people in the room credited it to the boy's eccentricity. After a few minutes, the boy began playing the Adagio with bits of the ring tone thrown in, and Dr. Willits gave a sigh of relief.

"The zeron conjures these balls of pure energy," the doctor began explaining to Ganon who had strolled over, his eyes still fixed on the boy playing the ocarina. "What this machine does is it keeps the energy from dissipating once the song is finished. It will continue to stay there until we stop the machine from running; we've managed to figure out how to make it a self-sustaining system with the machine running on the fire fairies' energy."

"Fairies?" Ganon raised an eyebrow. The doctor fell quiet, feeling somewhat silly when he turned to see that the fire things were no longer cute little fairy-like objects but a frightening inferno behind Skull Kid.

"Uh… well, that's what they looked like when we first started," he said lamely. A bead of sweat rolled off his nose when he saw some of his assistants backing themselves to the farthest reaches of the room to avoid being burned. He coughed. "At any rate, once this project is complete we won't have any need for the boy nor the ocarina to keep the things running. We might even consider constructing more of these if this goes well."

"Then Avilux will be truly unstoppable…" Ganon smiled. He waved a hand at the light behind Skull Kid that had arranged itself to form a massive phoenix-like bird of prey. "What is it called?"

"Huh?" The doctor blinked. His attention was now entirely focused on what was going on behind Skull Kid, and he did his best not to let his panic show through. This was the first time he had seen the fire things to be anything other than flitting winged orbs, and this firebird was menacingly huge. It didn't seem to have any solid core, and its light dazzled the eyes. The thing reminded the doctor of the symbols he occasionally found on some zerons of a bird of prey beneath three triangles. He wished now that he had taken the time to look for any literature pertaining to the symbols. "Uh… we don't have a name for it yet, sir."

"Hmm," Ganon tapped his chin, oblivious to the fright the firebird was causing to the rest of the staff. "Then it will be called the Avilux Ignis after the syndicate." He laughed. "It will be appropriate since Avilux already has the roots of the word 'bird' and 'light' and Ignis means 'fire.'"

"I-I think that's perfect sir," the doctor stammered. He scrambled to check the status of the machinery on the computer, not really caring about the darned thing's name. Right now, he was worried that more than one person was going to be burned today – they had completely underestimated the power and size of the thing they had conjured. His assistants had caught on to the potential trouble and were now running around making sure everything was in control. Ganon frowned slightly at the commotion, but he didn't seem to be aware of the potential danger Avilux Ignis presented.

By the time Skull Kid was finished playing the song, the bird was at least ten feet in height alone and its wings extended the full length of the room. It flapped them several times in a surprisingly life-like way, and then it settled down beside the boy. Skull Kid looked up at it with a smile, and then he turned towards the researchers and took a comical bow. At that moment, the bird gave an ear splitting screech, making the tripping researchers skid to a halt. Once the ringing had subsided, Ganon tilted his head towards the stricken doctor next to him.

"Are you going to tell me we have a living thing in our hands, doctor?"

Dr. Willits gradually raised his head behind the computer terminal to look at the firebird that had its flickering head in their direction. "A living thing with enough power to hold two Nagasaki nuclear bombs, yes. This was unexpected, Mr. Ganon."

"Is it controllable?"

"Well sir…"

Before the doctor could finish, a clear, musical, yet sexless voice echoed in their heads. "Avilux Ignis, did you call me?"

"It can speak!" the doctor almost fell out of his chair in surprise.

"You of Gerudo decent, did you call me Avilux Ignis?" the voice repeated, disregarding the doctor. From the way the firebird snapped its beak angrily, it was apparent that the voice's owner was the bird's.

There weren't many instances where Ganon was thrown off guard, but this was one of them. He certainly hadn't been expecting their latest weapons project to talk to them. Still, no successful crime lord would let his surprise show for long, and Ganon quickly regained his cool demeanor. "Is there a different name you would prefer to go by?" he asked civilly.

The firebird ignored his question, and the voice changed to that of a little girl's. It was off-putting at best, and it was weird coming from a huge bird. "Avilux Ignis – it was named after your syndicate. Is your syndicate important to you?"

Ganon hesitated, once again thrown off by the direction of the conversation. "Yes, it is extremely important," he stated simply.

There was a pause, and there was a tinny sound as the girl's voice laughed. "Then it is important to me."

There was a noticeable release of tension with those words as everyone in the room relaxed. Avilux Ignis appeared willing to listen to the boss, and that was good news. Gaining confidence, Ganon took a step towards the firebird.

Another screech exploded from Avilux Ignis and everyone, with the exception of Ganon, flew to their respective corners of perceived safety. Even Skull Kid, who had appeared happy earlier, was huddled by the edge of the doctor's machine with both hands over his ears and a worried frown on his face. The boy was starting to have second thoughts of reviving this creature that had promised to be his friend – though he was enjoying how it was giving the big people something to fear, he was having doubts on how much fun he would have with this 'friend.' After all, though he liked to pull pranks on people, he never enjoyed seriously hurting anybody and Avilux Ignis didn't strike him to be the type that would stop with a mere prank. The bird rolled its head as much as a light being could, and then it fixed its gaze on Ganon. Its eyes gleamed a brilliant white.

"You have _it_." Its voice was back to the musical, genderless voice.

"What?" Ganon asked, taking a step back.

"You want the others badly, I can feel it. You have _always_ wanted them, and you treasure your own like your life. But more than anything, you want to use those powers to claim the world. Use the Triforce to claim the world." Avilux Ignis raised its wings and a hooked talon clicked forward beyond the machine's reach. Skull Kid had ducked away in time to avoid being hit, since the bird seemed to have no consideration for his well-being. This caused a ruckus amongst the staff.

"I've seen enough, doctor." In an impressive show, Ganon managed to keep his voice steady. The doctor, however, was on the verge of a complete breakdown.

"We've been trying to turn it off, sir, we've been trying!" His fingers fumbled over the keys of his computer, deleting commands several times from multiple mistakes.

"Get a grip you fools!" Ganon barked. He shielded his eyes from the blinding fire of the power of the Fourth part of the legendary Triforce. It was the chaotic neutral, and it knew no difference between good and evil.

"Is the world important to you, Keeper of Power?"

"TURN IT OFF!"

The flames from the bird's wings shot out and engulfed the doctor who had been frantically going through the programs in the computer to shut down the machine. With a sickening scream, Ganon's partner to his scheme to create an unstoppable weapon disintegrated instantaneously into ash. Only his ghostly shadow remained imprinted on the wall that had been behind him. The room fell to a hush as everyone stared at the stenciled outline of the late Dr. Willits.

The bird fluttered its wings, and the voice became that of a little girl's once again. All Ganon could do was to stare at the deity they had revived. Avilux Ignis clicked its beak, the girlish giggles endlessly taunting them.

"The world… I want it."

* * *

Travel Log: Are you freaking kidding me? I'm not doing these anymore - Vaati

fleets: (fist pump) Aw yeah I finally get to the part where the last deity shows itself! This chapter was originally going to be named 'The Palace of Winds' because I was going to write more about the happenings of the little group way up in the sky, but that got pushed back to a later chapter because I ended up focusing more on AI (and I don't regret in the least). Dahh the next chappie is going to be fun to write. Scratch that, all the chapters from now on are going to be fun, now that all the characters are out on the table. XD

**Shadow Blues:** That's right - he's still Gale but with an extra set of memories. That's up to interpretation though; since memories are what make us, then the addition of Vaati's memories wouldn't make Gale the same as he was before... (so is he REALLY still Gale? Technically yes but, who knows?).

**Midna Hytwilian: **The question on whether or not he's Gale or Vaati... I say they're both, since we're shaped by what we remember and Vaati/Gale has both sets of memories. He keeps the name Vaati because that was his original name, and the name he had when he was at his greatest. **  
**

**henslight: **The identity issue I tried to answer as best I could in the responses above (I don't really have a clear answer on which one he really is, because I see his new self as more of an in-between). Yep, that was Vaati's power getting to his head a little - he had a huge rush where he was like "muahaha I have so much power I can do whatever I want." Gale was more like a normal person in that sense, since he wasn't power drunk.

**xBlackDragoonx: **Luckily for Link Vaati wasn't completely Vaati :) But now everyone in the whole world is pretty screwed...**  
**

**Reily96: **I laughed so much after I read that. Now I might have to go and change that a little so I can actually read that with a straight face (and not burst out laughing)... or I can keep it for the endless lols of amusement I have now from imagining Gale saying that XD  
I had a feeling you'd enjoy that part ;)**  
**

**Dark Scrivener: **Skyward Sword! I'm still ambivalent about it, but excited nonetheless. Aw, thanks - that gives me a lot of relief, since that was the section I was feeling unsure about including. Ah, the multipile-personality-disorder. It gives me the headaches trying to sort him out in my head, but at the same time that's why he's so fun to write :)**  
**

**Astral S. Kepeire: **I had a field day writing Vaati. Ah... yeah I had a feeling you wouldn't like that part. Sorries, I couldn't help it.  
Distinguishing between Gale and Vaati is one of the trickiest characterizations I've had to do, because they're essentially the same person with extremely slight (yet significant) differences. I think you hit the nail on the head - Gale's definitely a more toned-down Vaati, and it results from him not having sorcery to back up his arrogance. He actually might be closer to what Minish Vaati might have been like (though more bitter because of all that subliminal Vaati frustration). Now that he's got all (well, most of) his magic back, he's as arrogant as ever. Gale's personality still shows through though since he hasn't completely disappeared. Like I said to other people above, I think memories are what make us and Vaati/Gale has both sets that are equally real, so both parts would still exist.  
Thanks so much for all the comments Astral! Oh and yep, Skull Kid and the fire-goddess-thing AI appeared (and nearly stole the chapter imo, in terms of moving the plot forward).

**Kishoto: **That's a perfect way to describe Vaati now, actually (about how all that really happened was him regaining his powers/memories, making him a more extreme case of Gale-ness lol).  
... or will it be, none of the above? XP One thing is clear - the authoress is tired of having Ganon as the villain, so expect to have something different ;)

**LinkxDarkLink: **It's cool. I'm just happy people are still interested in this story :) Oooh yeah, that pic! Maybe I'll go color that when I have the time (hmm). Yeah, poor Zelda wasn't expecting that either :P**  
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**Sapphiet: **Zelda would agree with you on that. And Link. And Dark. And just about everyone, probably. Of course, lol, they're the same person XD**  
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**LunaticEyesInaba: **Yay, thank you! :D**  
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**Purplegc: **Link is definitely missing Gale right now - much more stable a person than Vaati. Now that you mention it, it IS weird isn't it, that Dark is the reasonable one? I didn't notice that when I was writing it. **  
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**Mirria1: **Me too!**  
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**Yaaaay: **Thank you, and indeed I will try my best ;)**  
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**SGarrison: **Thank you! It really makes my day reading reviews like this, 'cause it makes it that much more fun to continue writing to know I'm not the only one enjoying keeping the story going. **  
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**SubZeroChimera: **w00t!**  
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**msfcatlover: **Aahhh the pressure! lol. Vaati vs. Dugal is just waiting to happen - it's one of those things that would disappoint me greatly if it didn't happen. **  
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**i-wish-799: **Gale's still there, don't worry :) He's just a little more difficult to notice since all Vaati's personality is, is an extreme case of Gale. And more updates you shall have :D**  
**


	24. King of Talon: Helmaroc

Holy... so a lot of crap happens in this chapter and that's why it's so long. O.o;  
Also, EARLY-ISH UPDATE! Oh Em Gee I updated sooner than usual the world is going to end as we know it D:

* * *

**Chapter 23: King of Talon - Helmaroc**

"I sat there once…"

Vaati brushed his hand along a small, simple stool with some of the colors bleached out of the wood. It wasn't anything fancy like the other furniture in the palace, and it didn't look comfortable at all. This room was for experimenting with spells, and Vaati recalled that he had felt it pointless to risk ruining good furniture so he'd settled for a simple one. He then walked over to the bookshelf, magically lighting the candles with green flame as he maneuvered through the dim, cozily familiar room. The bookshelf was in surprisingly good condition with only a few hints of dust, and upon further inspection he discovered it to be protected by some sort of spell. The spell had weakened from time but it was still intact, and Vaati vaguely remembered taking the time to painstakingly place shields around it to make the books last longer. He was amazed they were still here in his palace today.

"I picked up this book…"

He reached over and grabbed a grey-covered book whose pages had been slightly abused from having them flipped so many times. Vaati moved back over to the stool. The muscles on his face tensed angrily, his voice becoming a soft, menacing hiss of anger.

" – and I performed that goddess-damned spell." Suddenly scowling, he raised his hand, paused for a second to think a little, and then blasted the stool in splinters with a burst of dark magic. Blowing up the stool should have been a feel-good thing, but instead it gave him something else to be angry about. He growled when the splinters backfired and flew towards him, causing some of the wood to cut the exposed part of his skin. "Fuck!"

As soon as he'd cursed, Vaati blinked in surprise at himself, and then slunk back to the cramped corners of the room and plopped against the wall. _What a mess._

He stared at his fist as he clenched and relaxed them. His sorcery had become so crude and messy. He used to be effortless with magic. He used to be clean. He never had a brain fart when he used to perform sorcery in the old days when he'd been the best.

He used to have style.

Vaati frowned, and then tossed the book he'd been holding into the air and concentrated on it. He waved his right hand uncertainly, and when he noticed the book continue to fall to the floor, the sorcerer hastily switched to his left hand and circled it in the air frantically. Just before the book hit the floor with a smack, it stopped with the help of wind and slowly began to float its way back to its place on the bookshelf. Vaati sighed, and then hung his head between his knees.

_I'm out of practice…_

His trepidation about his magical abilities had begun the moment he had attempted to warp everyone to the Palace of Winds earlier. Granted they had arrived here safely, he still felt it had been a close call to complete disaster. He was amazed he had succeeded at all, because warping to the Palace of Winds was more difficult than any other kind of warping.

Back in the day when Vaati had reigned from the Palace of Winds, he had made sure that no other magical practitioners would be able to reach his abode easily. After all, he hadn't trusted his minions to do a good job of keeping outsiders away, and he also hadn't wanted to expend the effort of keeping watch himself. Therefore, he had set up an extremely complicated and powerful spell to keep the Palace inaccessible to anyone besides him, and to keep it invisible from curious eyes. It was quintessentially a small Bermuda Triangle in the sense that if anything approached it, it would become terribly lost in a magical rift that kept the palace safe.

_Come to think of it, I wonder if the Palace of Winds was responsible for some of the missing pilot stories you hear every now and then. _

The spell worked fantastically, and no one besides Link had ever successfully infiltrated the Palace of Winds. Even then, that green nuisance had needed the help of Hyrule's magically powerful maidens just to get a pathway open.

_Wow. I used to be so good,_ Vaati brightened happily. His happiness was temporary, however, when he thought back to his situation now. _Now I'm so bad._ He'd become absentminded in the miniscule details in sorcery that was so extremely important in performing any spell. Of course it was expected that he would make mistakes now since he hadn't done any sorcery in over 8000 years, but it was still depressing.

_At this rate I'll be the world's most incompetent sorcerer._

Vaati's eyes widened and he froze as that petrifying thought crossed his mind. Shaking his head vehemently, he tried to get that thought out of his head.

_No! I'm the world's only sorcerer. That makes me the most powerful sorcerer by default! _

The sorcerer calmed down, and his mouth relaxed into a smile. He chuckled in relief, and pumped a fist into the air. "Ha! Logic wins!"

…

Within seconds, he deflated at the pitiful measures he was resorting to in order to keep his precious title.

Standing up, Vaati moved through his old study and then opened the door to step outside into a windy corridor. Moving towards one of the railings, he placed a hand on it to look down over the edge, and then pulled his hand back when the stone crumbled away and disappeared. Somewhat disappointedly, he put his arms behind his back and peered over the edge again. The clouds were rushing past without a purpose in their movements, and between them he could see a fuzzy view of forests and towns miles below. The view distracted him from his lack of mastery over magic, and it cheered him up a little. He then looked up and saw Dark and Zelda walking off a balcony to head indoors all the way on the other side of the palace.

He could have been helping them find the sealed maidens' spirits to stop a possible flood, but at the moment he was feeling unmotivated. Ever since his memories had returned, he felt a slight pang of revulsion at the thought of helping them, even if his lack of help could entail the end of all coastal life. _My "hometown" in New Jersey would be wiped off the map for sure…_

Vaati kicked a lone pebble off the edge of the skywalk. He'd helped those fools enough already by bringing them to the palace; after all, that's all they ever wanted him to do and he'd done his part. It was silly of them to think he'd care enough about the world that he'd make that extra effort to save it as well. As Gale, all he'd really wanted was to find out more about Vaati and that goal had been achieved. It wasn't that he wished half the world to go swimming – he truly didn't care about what happened to it as long as it didn't inconvenience him. With the memories of living in so many different eras, he'd become quite jaded with the concept of home. Home could have been the Palace of Winds, but even the flying castle had disappointed him – home was only a vague term of where he had current residence.

As for Gramps Loze, well, he didn't know what to think of him. That old geezer had been annoying, but it would be unfair of him to say that he hadn't treated him well. Maybe he'll help spare that man from whatever world disaster may come, but only because he'd been under his service for his life as Gale. It wasn't that he didn't like him, it was just that he was…

_Annoying, nagging, and far too much like Ezlo. _

Vaati cringed at the thought of his old master. He had mixed feelings about Ezlo. On one hand he had been militaristically strict with unreasonably high expectations, self-absorbed, condescending, and a real killjoy. On the other,

…

_I suppose he meant well? _

Vaati scoffed. _Well I certainly wouldn't be where I am today if it weren't for him,_ he thought sarcastically.

Looking down at the view again, he tried to take his mind off of things. He'd nearly forgotten how much he'd enjoyed seeing the view from the palace where everything was beneath his feet. _Instead of the other way around when I was a Minish. Din, why couldn't those memories omit themselves?_

Stretching, Vaati yawned and then stuck his hands inside the pockets of his sweatshirt. He appreciated the horizon some more, and then smiled when he remembered something. _Oh yeah, I used to float around for the heck of it. That was a ton of fun. _

Tentatively, he stuck his foot off the edge of the skywalk, and then pulled it back. What was he thinking? Teleporting was the way to go. Grinning, he cracked his knuckles and casted a spell. In an instant, he blinked out of existence on the skywalk he had been standing on and appeared several meters away in the middle of the open air.

"Oh shi – AAAH!"

In a display that would make Vaati want to go sit in a hole and die, the rusty sorcerer panicked and waved his arms in an attempt to steady himself. Glowering, it took him several seconds of freefall and concentration to get him to levitate back up again. Once he was back on the level of the skywalk, he approached it and climbed over the railings to return to solid ground. There was no way he was going to attempt teleporting in this state, where one mistake might cause him to have his body teleport into a pillar resulting in instant death: especially since earlier he had overshot teleporting, as well as fail to levitate.

"Stupid modern Gale mindset," he growled to himself. It was going to take some time to convince himself that magic wasn't impossible, and until then his sorcery was going to be unpredictable. Shaking his head in frustration, Vaati wandered to explore a different part of the palace to change his disgruntled mood.

XXXXXXXXX

"Where did Vaati go?"

Dark and Zelda had followed Link inside the palace where the teen was standing by himself, the wind mage in question nowhere to be seen. At the sound of Vaati's name, Zelda stiffened and crossed her arms.

"We can go without him. We don't need him anymore anyways."

The two Links looked at each other, both of them reluctant to be the first one to say anything since Zelda's mood had obviously turned sour. They stepped out of the way when the girl roughly pushed past them.

"Were we looking for the sealed spirits of the maidens? There were six right? Link, talk to me please."

"Uh…" Link trailed off when Zelda disappeared from sight, mentioning under her breath about wanting to get things over with quickly. He scratched his head at a loss.

"Someone's upset with someone," Dark observed once he was sure he was out of earshot and was safe.

"It's all Vaati's fault."

"I hadn't spent too much time with you guys before he got his memories back, but I hear that Vaati's Gale except worse."

Link nodded. "Yup. If Gale was a natural disaster, then Vaati is the apocalypse." He shook his head. "Dang it. Monsters I can deal with, but I never know what to do with an angry woman."

"Huh. I stopped distinguishing those two categories a long time ago."

"I wonder if Zelda's scary when she's angry. I mean the Zelda from my time," Link clarified when Dark was looking at him funny.

Dark's pierced eyebrow slowly inched upwards and he took a closer look at Link. The blond had a faraway expression that Dark could describe as Romeo-esque. Then, a mischievous grin that made Link uncomfortable appeared on his face. "She's usually nice though, isn't she?"

"Yeah…" Link replied without skipping a beat.

"Fun?"

"Yeah."

"Smart?"

"Yeah."

"Pretty?"

"Ye –" Link stopped. "What is it to you, anyways?"

"Oh, nothing." Dark smiled knowingly.

Recognizing what his modern twin was referring to, Link threw up his hands in the air in exasperation. "Look, it's not like that." Even as he said it he felt foolish, however, since he could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. His usually calm exterior broke as he stuttered, attempting to redeem himself. "All right! Fine, I admit I like her but I like a different Zelda more."

Dark snickered. "Hehe, no wonder Vaati likes to screw with your head by making passes at Zelda – you are _so_ crazy about that girl."

Before Link could give Dark a piece of his mind, a shout from somewhere above interrupted him. Zelda's voice rang out with urgency. The two boys exchanged glances, and Dark picked up a sword from among the random objects in the room.

"I think that was our queue to go."

They hurried to the sound of Zelda's voice, their footsteps echoing faintly between the soft wail of the wind.

XXXXXXXXXX

Zelda had stormed off away from the boys to look for the maidens on her own to avoid the topic of Vaati. She couldn't forgive him for doing _that _at the Temple of Time; and the nerve of him to suggest she'd liked it! It made him worse than those guys who always hit on her because she'd always managed to intimidate them enough to get them to leave her alone.

Her footsteps wavered, and she didn't notice she had walked right into the middle of a circular hall with six pillars around the perimeters. The different colored gems set firmly on top of them glinted faintly as she walked past.

Becoming increasingly upset the more she remembered what had happened at the Temple of Time, Zelda's fists became clenched. "Ohhh that filthy jerk!"

A familiar voice intruded her thoughts. It was uninvited and disconcerting, and she didn't like its smug confidence in the least. _But you can't get me out of your head now, can you dear?_

"Huh?"

She whirled around, and she steadied herself, her hand reflexively moving up to her temples when her vision swirled and she felt lightheaded. Zelda stumbled in a daze, and then she froze as still as a statue when she saw a ghostly shadow in the form of a person standing mockingly before her. His thin lips were twisted into a leer, and a dark, maroon cape covered most of his figure. A pointed purple hat was neatly propped on top of his silver lavender hair that grew past his shoulders.

"Vaati…" she whispered hoarsely. The apparition took a few steps towards her with a sneer.

_You may hate me, but you can't stop thinking about me. One of these days, all you'll ever think about is me and you'll forget about your little hero. Then I will have truly won. _

"I will never forget Link. Never. You can't take that away from me, and you'll never understand why. You don't know what it's like to love somebody because all you care about is yourself."

While she spoke to the shadow of Vaati in her distorting reality, Zelda recognized that this was something out of a past life that she was reenacting. Even the Palace of Winds was no longer run down and eroding, but was brilliant and restored to its former glory. Sunlight beamed through the curved arches and casted shadows around the six pillars, but the crystals that were there in the modern times had disappeared. Like a puppet on strings, all she could do was watch as her body acted out an old memory. The sorcerer vanished and appeared by her side, wrenching her face towards him.

_I've let you get away with defying me, princess, but you had better watch yourself. When I run out of patience I will not be as nice to you as I am now. _

"Villain! Link will defeat you."

_You still dare mention that name to me? Hmm. You will lose that conviction soon enough when Shadow Link brings the news that he has died. _

"You underestimate him."

_And likewise you underestimate me. When this world bows before my heel and you have lost all that you've had to care for, you will come running to me. I will get you to embrace being my queen when you can bare loneliness no longer. _

To rub it in her face and to torment her even more, Vaati's cold hands tilted her head and tried to make her kiss him. Zelda spat in his face, and he pulled back in surprise. Rage appeared on his features before he laughed freely. Wiping his face with his sleeve, he smirked malevolently.

_I WILL win, princess. I will win against everything. Against Link, against the goddesses, and against you. It is inevitable, and one of these days you will not be able to oppose me. _

The vision faded, and when Zelda rubbed her eyes she realized she had bruised her knees on the hard stone floor where she had fallen. Her hands were shaking and tears were running down her face. "What's going on… ?"

Unbeknownst to her, the crystals on top of the pillars flickered again and Zelda's vision flickered. She clutched her head and closed her eyes, afraid of what her next ordeal would be. She flinched when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, are you alright?"

Tentatively, she looked up and she gasped in relief when she saw Link standing next to her. But… was it her imagination? She couldn't tell if he was the teen or a young boy with the same firm expression burdened by responsibility.

_I'll do anything to help you, Zelda. You can count on me._

Those words – those words sounded like something she'd heard many years ago. Now completely confused as to who was acting for her, Zelda reached up and hugged Link tightly, burying her face in his shoulders. "Link!" She sobbed from the stress of everything, "I missed you…"

Brought to his knees by a distraught Zelda pulling him down into an embrace, Link Petrov was caught by surprise and his hands flopped uselessly by his side in befuddlement. He and Dark had found the girl sitting in the middle of a large, open hall with ominously glowing crystals in the perimeter, and crying in a soft whimper. Link hugged her back awkwardly, unsure of what to do. "What happened?" He asked. _And you just saw me two minutes ago, _he thought to himself. _What do you mean, you missed me?_

Zelda didn't seem to hear him, and with her voice muffled by the cloth of his jacket, she murmured. "Stay at Hyrule Castle with me."

"What?" Link grabbed Zelda by the shoulders and pushed her away from him to take a better look at her face. Her eyes were still unsteady in a panicked way without understanding what was happening. It was then that the familiarity of the scene hit Link – it was the same phrase the Zelda at his time had spoken to him after he had defeated Ganondorf. This wasn't Zelda Sterling speaking, but Zelda Harkinian. He didn't know what had caused this upset, but he figured it had something to do with the magical nature of the Palace and the flickering gems in the hall. A pained, homesick smile appeared and Link pulled Zelda in for a comforting hug. "I'm sorry, Zelda. I'll come back soon when I'm done here, I promise."

Her blue eyes softening, she closed them slowly and hugged him back, feeling safe in his arms. After a few seconds, her eyes shot open again and she whispered, "I saw the past and Vaati, he…" She shook away the memory. "Link, who am I?"

A female voice emanated from somewhere within the hall, making all of them twist their heads to find the speaker. She spoke with an unusual accent, and Link noticed it was English tainted with old Hylian. _You carry royal blood. You are indeed Princess Zelda, the wielder of the Triforce of Wisdom and one of the Maidens. _

Dark, who had been standing behind Link and watching the entire happening with mild surprise, crouched down and grabbed the sheath of his sword he had taken earlier. "Who's there?" he growled.

This time, a different voice of a young woman answered. _We are the six Maidens sealed as spirits to forever protect this Palace. We are the ones who watch over the world when the hero fails to appear. _

"It's the crystals! They're the ones talking." Dark whirled around and pointed his sword at the nearest crystal.

Drying her eyes, Zelda slowly stood up with as much regality as she could muster. The voices seemed to make her aware of what was going on around her, instead of the inner turmoil she was going through. "Dark, put that down. They mean no harm." She didn't know why, but a distant memory was giving her more confidence about her power. Dark seemed to have noticed this difference as well.

"Zelda… you've changed."

The girl smiled sadly, hooking her stray yellow hair behind her ears. "No, I've only been asleep. Now I know… now I know what my responsibility is. I saw what I had to do." Turning to each of the six crystals, she addressed them. "Sisters, is it true that you will drown the evil that will appear in this era?"

_Yes, my lady. We will protect Hyrule._

"The hero stands before you now. Do you not have faith in him?" She gestured towards Link who unsheathed the Master Sword and held it in front of him to demonstrate.

There was a hesitation, and then the voice repeated, _We will protect Hyrule._

Zelda frowned at the reply. "You can't drown the world! Hyrule doesn't even exist anymore!"

_We have sworn to protect Hyrule, _the voice repeated, unyielding.

The girl's brows knitted together, her eyes gleaming fiercely. "Then so be it." She turned to the two Links who were observing the entire exchange speechlessly. "The spirits have grown old and are weakening. They have little coherent judgment left besides the strong drive to protect Hyrule." She walked over to the pillar with a topaz yellow crystal. These crystals had once been the maidens she had worked together with in a past lifetime to keep the seal on Vaati. It had been cruel to keep them ageless in this bodiless state, but when the decision had been made to seal their spirits, each maiden had agreed to sacrifice herself to protect the world forever. Now after so many years and forgotten in the sky above, no one could have foreseen the toll it had taken on the spirits. The only thing left to them was an ancient conviction that was no longer helpful but harmful, and they had lost all power to adapt and make the right choices. Zelda hung her head. "We have to destroy them." _It would free them from their long ordeal at last._

"I would like to object."

The three whirled around at the silky voice that suddenly interrupted them. Link and Dark both shot their hands to their swords while Zelda stood firmly, staring coolly at the unexpected visitor. Slightly out of breath from the thin air, Halstead Dugal neatly fixed his tie and cleared his throat, all the while strafing his pistol in their direction. Just like when they had met him previously, he retained the business casual demeanor of a confident executive. "Judging from your conversation, I believe these crystals have the power to flood the world, yes? Such powerful tools should not be wasted." The leader of Talon Three gave a pleasant smile that was sickeningly fake. "My employer may have the power of Avilux Ignis, but I am not about to give him complete monopoly. We should even out the playing field, wouldn't you agree kids?"

"Dugal," Link said between gritted teeth. "How did you find us here?"

Dugal chuckled, the muzzle of his pistol rhythmically waving between the three targets and daring one of them to make the first move. "Ah, just a simple case of satellite tracking and the sense to look up when you don't see anything in any other direction. I admit I was surprised when I came across this outstanding treasure trove floating in the sky. I was right when I decided to wait so you could lead me here. Let me show you a portion of the terrific properties of some of the things lying about in this palace."

To their horrific surprise, the man's right arm whipped towards his left thigh with blinding speed and the three flinched when a deafening bang cracked through the Palace. With his face still in a chillingly calm smile, Dugal brought his gun back to the three of them while ignoring his thigh where there was now a bullet wound. His glasses wobbled a little when his face twitched in repressed pain, but for the most part Dugal ignored his busted leg that was now bleeding profusely and creating a crimson patch on his expensive suit. "Look what I found," he cracked a grin while bringing out a small bottle from the pocket of his Armani jacket with his free hand. Inside the bottle was a ruby colored liquid, and with one fell swoop he drank the entire contents and tossed the bottle behind him. "A man can be king here." He then swung his previously injured leg and hopped on it to demonstrate its recovery. The rest of them took a step back.

"What… what the hell?" Dark stammered. Link tensed.

"Red Potions. Those are the most potent kind and can help a person recover from almost any injury instantaneously as long as they're still alive."

"I actually wasn't sure it would work completely, but I'm glad it did," Dugal laughed. "Now, now, there's no need to look so terrified," he chided.

The three of them stared in shock at what Dugal had done, as they had not expected to go up against someone who was completely fine with self-injury. Dark was surprised that Dugal hadn't even uttered a single cry indicating pain when he had shot himself. "This guy is trouble," Dark mentioned to Link. "He's got nerves of steel if he could shoot himself in the leg and stay completely calm, and that also means he'll have a steady gun hand even in the most stressful situations. The only way we'll win with swords is if we can get him to miss, and he just proved how difficult that would be."

"I think that demonstration was to show us that," Link muttered bitterly.

Dugal nodded. "Correct. Now that you know how pointless it is to go against me, why don't you sit still for a pleasant chat?"

The three teens exchanged glances, each of them turning to each other for some queue on how to proceed. They were reluctant to play by the Talon Three leader's rules, but at the moment it appeared that they had no choice. "Dugal," Zelda stepped up. "What do you want from us, really?"

Dugal adjusted his glasses. "Why hello Ms. Sterling. We will still consider hiring you if we deem you loyal to the company."

"No thank you," she said tersely. The man shrugged.

"Hm. Disappointing. As for what I want, I already got it when you revealed this Palace to me." He sighed, shaking his head in mock sorrow. "Pity, but since you are threatening to destroy some of its best pieces, I cannot spare you any longer. My employer wanted you to disappear, and disappear you shall. I'm certain I will be questioned extensively for delaying my job for this long anyway. It will be annoying, but these prizes will be worth every stupid question thrown at me."

"You don't understand! You can't control the spirits Dugal, they will threaten the world when you least expect it. It's like trying to control the gods – it's just impossible." Zelda exclaimed.

The man blinked. "Well, Ms. Sterling. As an aspiring scientist, those words were the last things I would have expected you to say. I'm sure that once we understand how they work we will be able to – "

"That's how science works, not how magic works! Those zerons you've been endorsing; the reason why they don't follow the rules of classical science is because they have an entirely different set of laws. They are based on the laws of magic, and I'm telling you that you will never be able to have control over these crystals."

"I don't quite understand what you're saying," Dugal shrugged. "I thought the whole point of the field of energy manipulation was to discover those unknown laws so you can understand them. You didn't strike me as one to give up, but it seems you have convinced yourself to stop pursuing this."

"No, you don't understand at all. Pursuing this scientifically was the wrong approach from the start. You can't control – "

BANG!

Zelda froze, and she felt a few strands of hair brush her cheeks as the tips of her bangs were cut by a passing bullet. A wisp of white vapor floated around the air of Dugal's custom M1911. "I believe this discussion is going nowhere. Let's talk about something else," Dugal said cheerfully.

The girl brought her hand up to her cheek and felt a tiny scratch where the rushing air from the bullet had grazed her. The atmosphere had become a few notches more urgent with the warning gunshot.

Dugal waved his free hand in the general direction outside. His right arm, however, remained as steady as ever. "I have two questions before I complete my assignment: one, where is Mr. Engst and two, who wants the honor of dying first? I would eliminate all of you together if I could, but unfortunately I can only shoot you one at a time."

The man in the suit waited pleasantly for a few seconds, and then his eyes widened when he sensed something behind him. With lightning quick reflexes, Dugal ducked to the floor as an electric blue sphere of energy narrowly missed his head. It was the first time anyone had seen Avilux I's executive consultant lose his posture.

Vaati stood beneath one of the arches, the sunlight shining behind him dramatically. Magic crackled between his fingers as he snarled. "One, I'm right here. Two, you should be the first to die."

Dugal brushed himself off, and his gun wandered a little, unsure of which way to face now that he was sandwiched between his opponents. He was no longer smiling cheerfully, and instead pushed his glasses up with his lips in a thin line. "Good afternoon, Mr. Engst. You have impeccable timing."

"I don't recall inviting you here," Vaati snapped.

Dugal guffawed, and then smiled curtly. His gun waved towards the two Links and Zelda, and he fired seven shots in even spaces right before their feet. The gunfire rang throughout the palace, and the three cautiously looked up from where they had jumped back in defense. Dugal calmly reloaded his pistol with a casual air. "If any of you kids take one step across that line, you will be very, very dead."

He clicked the rounds into the gun and proceeded to aim it at Vaati's head. "I believe you should be first, Mr. Engst."

What happened within the next few seconds was complete and utter chaos of flying bullets and magical energy. When Vaati initially attempted to blow the gun away from Dugal's hand, a bullet had forced him to go on the defensive instead. The sorcerer managed to keep himself shielded until Dugal had to reload, and then he switched to hurling spheres of dark magic towards the man in the suit. Dugal was quick, however, and stopped the spheres from reaching their targets with expertly aimed shots.

Trying a different tactic, Vaati teleported behind Dugal to get a clear shot. It seemed to work at first, when the man paused in wonder at what had happened to the pale teen, but the cover was blown when Vaati yelped from having teleported too far back and almost off the edge of the palace through the archways. Another exchange of magic and bullets occurred, bringing the two adversaries back to square one.

Both characters were stiff from the intensity of the last few seconds, and they stood at a standstill with their respective weapons aimed at each other: Dugal with his gun, and Vaati with his sorcery.

"A Mexican Standoff, Mr. Engst? Your ability is remarkable and I would hate to lose you, but considering your headstrong personality I feel this is the only option left." Dugal's pointer finger gradually applied pressure to the gun's trigger.

"I'm not going to lose to you," Vaati sneered.

Seconds passed in what seemed like hours as the tension became unbearably stifling. Even though Vaati had spoken big words earlier, he was undeniably nervous. He wasn't at complete control over his magic yet, and modern weapons such as guns were far more difficult to deal with in a contest of speed and accuracy than arrows. This wasn't like any fight he'd ever had when he had fought using magic, and Gale's memories were useless since he'd never been against a man with a gun before. From the quick scuffle earlier, Vaati had recognized that Dugal's speed with the bullet forced him to go on defensive most of the time except for when the man reloaded his gun. That was his only chance, so a standoff like this wasn't ideal at all.

On top of all that, casting magic was glacier pace compared to pulling a trigger. _Damn. _

Vaati braced himself.

BANG!

The moment he'd done so, there was a roar from the silver barrel as the shot thundered with a deafening crack.

Vaati gave a shout of agony, and Dugal stumbled while curled painfully to his left side and holding his face with his free hand. The sorcerer's right sleeve was quickly turning from dark grey to red from the wound on his arm, and Vaati winced as he pressed down on it to suppress the bleeding. Dark dashed towards Vaati and helped steady him. "Your arm, how bad is it?"

"Hurts like hell." Vaati grit his teeth, his right side shaking from trying to suppress the pain. "What about that bastard in the suit?"

Dugal appeared extremely upset, and was snarling profanities while he steadily waved his gun towards Vaati and the rest of the teens. The man's suit had a nasty burn on his left side from where Vaati's blast had grazed him, yet that didn't seem to be the thing that was upsetting Dugal so much. His left hand was rubbing the bridge of his nose, and he had his eyes in a narrow squint.

It was then that Vaati noticed that Dugal's glasses were lying several feet away from the man, and how unsure the gun's aim seemed to be. The sorcerer cracked a smile when Link circled Dugal with a slingshot aimed at him; the blond had managed to shoot the glasses off of the man's face, taking away his aim. "Heh, take away your sight and you're hopeless."

"Hopeless, Mr. Engst? Think again," Dugal growled. With one swift movement, Dugal cocked the pistol and fired a shot in the direction of Vaati's voice, which he used to judge where the wind mage's face was.

Vaati managed to cast a spell to narrowly protect himself from the bullet. He and Dark breathed a sigh of relief, slightly shaken by how the bullet still managed to go right towards his chin – he figured it would have been between the eyes if Dugal didn't have impaired vision. "Fine, you're obviously not hopeless."

Like a wounded animal, Dugal rubbed his eyes with frustration as though that would help his vision. Holding his free arm out, he crouched and waved them frantically to find the glasses he had lost. He gave a furious shout when Link carefully aimed a shot at the hand holding the pistol. The weapon flew out of his hands and spun away on the smooth floor, skidding away to an unreachable distance. Dugal smashed his fist to the floor with his face contorted in anger, and then froze when Link held the Master Sword at his neck.

"I know you can't see well, but you can probably recognize that I have you at sword point."

Dugal blinked. Still crouching, he frowned disdainfully at the sword and scooted away while patting his hand on the floor in search of his glasses. Finally, his hand hit a wire frame and they immediately snatched them up and propped them on his nose. Dugal scrubbed the lenses with his sleeves, shaking his head sadly when he noticed a thin crack in one of them. He peered at Link. "Well, I am at your mercy Mr. Petrov," he shrugged. The man brushed himself off and stood up, avoiding the point of Link's sword. He made a face at the weapon, and then tugged at his jacket to straighten out the wrinkles. "Hmm, pity about the jacket," he mentioned disappointedly, going back to the demeanor of the bored businessman.

Link hesitated, though he kept his grip firmly on the Master Sword. Vaati's voice called out behind him.

"What are you waiting for? That guy is dangerous, Link!" There was a muffled yelp when pain shot up the sorcerer's arm from Dark tightening a piece of cloth around his wound.

Dugal smiled cheerfully. "Your friend is right, Mr. Petrov. It would be wise to get rid of me when I am completely helpless before you. However, that presents another problem, doesn't it?" He chuckled as though they were casually talking about the weather. "Can you kill a helpless man in cold blood, Mr. Petrov?"

Before Link could answer that question, the crystals around the perimeter flashed.

The maiden's voice from earlier echoed eerily. _The world will perish…_

Glowing brightly, the various colors glittered around the room in a beautiful display. It took a moment for Link to realize that the shine was not something to be appreciated, but feared. "The crystals! We have to – urk!"

As soon as Link's attention had left Dugal for a fraction of a second, the man had pounced on him and had twisted the sword out of Link's grasp. "Never take your eyes off of your opponent, Mr. Petrov," Dugal sneered, hooking his arm around the boy's neck in a guillotine choke. There was a clatter as the Master Sword fell on the ground.

At the same time, a tinkling shatter made everyone turn to see crystal shards raining down on Zelda on the other side of the room. She knelt down and picked up a moderate sized rock and swung herself around, throwing it into the second crystal to shatter it. Bits of shards glittered in her hair, but she paid them no heed as she hurried to destroy them all. When the last one was destroyed, she wiped the sweat off of her face and took a deep breath. "Those maidens were about to flood the world just now."

There was a silence, and then the rustle of the wind carried one last vanishing note from the sealed maidens. _The world will perish… When we are gone, who will take responsibility for the chaos that comes?_

Dead silence greeted them. Even the howl of the winds seemed to have vanished after the crystals had been destroyed, emphasizing everyone's feeling of surprise at what the girl had done.

Dugal involuntarily loosened his grip on Link in his shock at what Zelda had done, and then tightened them again when the teen attempted to struggle free. He glared down at Zelda like a hawk, and he didn't sound pleased at all. "Ms. Sterling, I am very unhappy with you right now." The man dragged Link over to where his pistol was on the floor, and picked it up. Armed once again and this time with a hostage, the teens had lost their edge over Talon's leader.

Link tilted his head away when he felt the cool metal of the pistol press against his temples. "Dugal! We have bigger problems than you right now! If you want to live, let us go."

Dugal arched his brows. "I feel you are in no position to be making threats."

"It's not a threat, it's the truth!" Zelda was about to take a step forward, but stopped when Dugal growled a warning and jammed his gun against Link's head. Instead, she waved her hands towards the shattered crystals. "The fact that the maidens were trying to activate the flood can only mean that – "

"Skull Kid finished his song," Vaati finished for her. He sighed tiredly. "That means something worse than the flood is waiting to happen, and soon, too."

Dugal said nothing for several seconds, turning his head between each teen with a look of disbelief. They seemed to know something he didn't, and he didn't like that. He always knew everything that was going on, and he hated the fact that he was the one who was left in the dark. Frowning, he shrugged. "So my employer's company now has access to infinite energy. I don't see how that is a bad thing for you, since all it means is that Avilux I now has incredible leverage on the world's economy and politics. Why would it bother a bunch of kids like you on who has the monopoly on the world's energy?"

The four of them exchanged glances of surprise. Finally, Vaati asked, "Are you serious?"

"What?" Dugal sounded annoyed. He was on the verge of losing his patience.

"Your boss isn't trying to obtain infinite energy: he's trying to obtain the perfect weapon."

"An economical weapon that will allow the company to have complete control over world politics, yes," the man nodded with an irritated edge in his voice.

Zelda shook her head. "No no no, it's not just an economical advantage. He's planning to use it with military force – it will be something more frightening than a nuclear bomb."

Dugal was taken aback by the statement, and they could clearly see that he had not been informed of the real plans of the company. He stuttered at the news. "Nonsense! The research that the jittery doctor was doing was nothing of the sort. He wouldn't have the stomach to create a weapon like that."

Seeing how the executive's confidence in his information was breaking, Vaati cackled gleefully between the pains from his arm. "Hahaha! You weren't as trusted as you thought you were, were you? They didn't even tell you what the doctor was really studying."

There was a gunshot when Dugal fired at Vaati, but the sorcerer blocked it again with his magic. The wind mage tittered, knowing it would get on the man's nerves. "You were a little off with your perfect aim again. Was it because of your glasses again, or was it your failing nerves?"

Dugal grit his teeth and his hand clenched with murderous intent. However, he took a deep breath until he relaxed and shook his head with his usual fake smile. He looked at them with pity and shook his head sadly. "You must be misinformed. There is no way I would allow one man to have so much power with a weapon of that sort."

"Well maybe that's why they hid that from you," Link muttered. He twisted his head upwards and noticed Dugal frowning again. "So you really didn't know?"

"It's not true," Dugal repeated stubbornly.

"It is. Here, reach into my pocket and read the paper that's in there. It'll tell you everything you need to know." Link shifted his weight, and found that the steel grip around his neck had loosened somewhat with Dugal growing unsure of himself. The pistol against his neck lowered slightly, and then moved towards his jacket pockets. "It's in the right one."

With the rustling of paper, Dugal carefully opened the documents that outlined the true nature of Dr. Willits' research. The farther his eyes moved down the page, the narrower they became until they were thin, angry lines. Once he was finished reading, Dugal stuffed the document inside his jacket and yanked Link up, causing the teen to choke and stand up with him. "Well then," Dugal laughed with a creepily cheery grin, "I guess I was wrong. They really did have the audacity to attempt to create a demonic weapon."

Zelda crossed her arms. "And that's why we have to sto-"

"And that's why I'm going to be the one to get my hands on it," Dugal interrupted, his cheerfulness taking on a malevolent tone. "You kids know too much about this. I sincerely apologize, but I have to get rid of you."

An explosion blared through their ears, and everyone flinched with the force that rocked the palace floor. The sound wasn't from Dugal's gun, however, and they slowly turned to look outside where the sky had gone from blue to a blinding, crimson flash. The entire palace shook and the ancient stone crumbled from the vibrations, and the sound of crashing artifacts occasionally echoed the halls.

"What was that?" Dark asked the question that was on everyone's minds.

"It's started," Link said quietly. He tugged at the arm that was holding him in place. "I say this again, Dugal: we have bigger problems to deal with than you. If we don't stop that thing that your boss summoned, then everyone is dead."

There was a pause, and then Dugal slowly dragged Link over to the balcony to get a better view of what was happening down below. The rest followed him at a distance until they were all standing around the edge of the Palace. Miles away from the foot of Mt. Fuji, there was a bright shining ball that was floating in the middle of a crater surrounded by mountains. It was in the general direction of where the Avilux I research facility had been, and the thing's light was so intense that it was painful to see even from the Palace of Winds. The area surrounding it steamed from the snow that had melted, and there was a circular green-brown patch where the ground lay exposed. Gusts of hot air reached them after a few seconds. Dugal turned his head towards Link who he still held hostage. "…And just what is that thing?" he asked expressionlessly.

"A troublesome deity." The blond watched the light grow dimmer, revealing the outline of a gigantic bird. "It can't be controlled. The only option we have is to stop it. Do you understand why we have to stop it?"

Dugal wasn't entirely convinced. "And you kids think you can stop that thing, do you?"

"…We have to."

Zelda glanced at the phoenix, and then at Vaati and Dark, and then at Link and Dugal. She shook her head. "Dugal, please, release Link. We need to stop that before it's too late, and we don't have time to waste fighting amongst ourselves."

After several seconds, it seemed as though Dugal wouldn't agree when he stared flatly at them with an unsatisfied expression. With each passing moment, the sound of destruction that was being dealt by the chaotic goddess was becoming terrifyingly clear. However, there was a noticeable release in tension when the man cautiously let Link go at last. The blond shot away from him and rubbed his neck, clearing his throat several times. Dugal sniffed, glancing at the increasing destruction in the distance. "All right. I admit I was wrong." He tipped the point of his pistol in the air in a sign of temporary truce. "I thought I had been the mastermind, but it seems I have been played all along." He tried not to sound ashamed, but the strain in his voice made it apparent that he was bothered by how Gagnon had had the upper hand and not him. "I won't stop you. However, if you plan to destroy that thing, then I am going with you."

There were objections from Dark and Link, but Vaati held up a hand and smirked, nodding knowingly. "If you can't have it, no one can – is that right?"

Dugal nodded.

The sorcerer regarded the other man for a while, and the grinned despite himself. He couldn't really place why he suddenly felt a bit of camaraderie with the person he had hated and wanted to destroy only a few minutes ago. Maybe it was the way Dugal acted upon things, or maybe it was the simple fact that his nickname as the Helmaroc King reminded him of how his alliance with that monster had been: shaky and antagonistic, but full of mutual respect. "Heh. You know, I should be more upset at you for what you've done, but I'm not. I don't like you, but I respect you. You're kind of like me."

The man snorted. "You shouldn't think so highly of yourself that you think I would take that as a compliment."

There was an exasperated sigh from Link who had a tired hand on his forehead. He mumbled under his breath. "I just hope you won't try anything funny, Dugal."

"Well I'm not really known for my humor, Mr. Petrov."

Link gave him a long look at which the man in the suit laughed.

"Don't worry, I stand corrected and I won't interfere with you for the time being." He brought his hands up in a truce.

Considering Dugal with a mistrustful eye, Link picked up the Master Sword he had dropped and returned it to its sheath. He gripped the sword tightly. "All right. Is everyone ready to take down a god?"

Vaati was the only one to crack a smile. For some reason, that concept seemed hilarious to him.

* * *

fleets: I realized I used to call Mr. Ganon "Mr. Gagnon" in the earlier chapters and accidentally called him Ganon in the previous chapter. I'll have to go fix that, but for now I'm not going to worry about it.

I feel there's a lot to say about this chapter, yet nothing is coming to mind. Maybe it's because it's so late...  
Zelda's flashback scene might be a little confusing. They're references to the events of FSA and Ocarina of Time, and I mostly just stuck that in there to have the whole Legend of Zelda aspect of the story come out more (instead of just having her stand around like some regular blond OC).  
Yeah, I really don't have much to say even though so much was crammed in here. Dugal's fight scene was a pain in the arse to write, but fun nonetheless. The beginning scene with Vaati, however, takes the cake as being my favorite part.

**Midna Hytwilian: **There's nothing bad about making you want to write XD  
Yeah. I sometimes wonder what I'd be like if I had no memory of certain life experiences...**  
**

**msfcatlover: **Poor Skull Kid. And now you have to wonder if he's still alive since Avi blew everything up (of course I know the answer but I'm not telling :P). The Palace of Winds was summoned by Vaati to appear above the Temple of Time, so yeah, it is (I attempted to explain that in the beginning of this chapter, but I don't know how clear I was able to make it). There is no problem of like/dislike for Avilux Ignis. All it cares about is whether or not something is important to somebody. The only reason why it said the syndicate is important to it is because Gagnon said it was important. Now it wants the whole world because that's what most people care about (yeah, so it pretty much has no opinions of its own). **  
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**LinkxDarkLink: **Happy you liked it! Ahh, plot twists. I don't know how many more I have left, but I do have some left. And hope you enjoyed a sort of early update! :)**  
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**Shadow R-B: **Me too. Gale/Vaati are my favorites in this story (though writing Dugal is pretty darn fun too). **  
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**Vaati the wind mage1: **Ah, plain Gale... I don't know if he'll come back now that Vaati's back too. That'll be a difficult character to write, hmmm (scratches head)**  
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**RyuuseiBlackAce: **Whoo hoo!**  
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**Reily96: **I made a sprite of Ganon in a suit. It was surprisingly adorable lol. Avilux is probably who you think it is ;)**  
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**i-wish-799: **Ehehe thank you very much :D**  
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**henslight: **That's a good way to describe it: a friend who's changed a lot. I kinda sorta mentioned the fact about Link's parents (when Link grumbles about how the Deku Tree never told him until he was about to set off on his adventure to save Hyrule). It wasn't made very obvious though ;)**  
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**Kishoto: **If Vaati was at full power, I think I would've hit a writer's block since he would have just gone and ended everything in a flash. He'd destroy Dugal easily, destroy the company, destroy Link, and maybe destroy a god or two thus ending my story in a very lame fashion. It would have been a little unrealistic as well, I feel, so in the end his rustiness worked out nicely ;)**  
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**Sapphiet: **If there's one thing I try to avoid, it's repeated endings. Hopefully I can change things up a bit for this one ;)**  
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**Ephriokko: **I sometimes go back to seeing Vaati with his mage outfit, and then I have to remember that he's in a modern outfit right now. Gives me a couple of brain stalls while writing this thing sometimes :P**  
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**Astral S. Kepeire: **It was an important twist, too, since granting him with too much power would have made the ending go by way too quickly :)  
Both, actually. I was waiting to put more of him in, and I also listened to your request. The tracking signals disappeared during the warping period, and then reappeared when they arrived at the palace. The radar would still catch them because the Argos program is based on satellite (it's a real program, btw, except Talon Three tweaked it a little to have more coverage) so the signals would still reach (I assume).  
Including Vaati's conflict was a tricky one, since I felt it was explored a lot in the BC series and I didn't want to continue whipping a dead horse, if ya know what I mean.  
Ohoho I did say that all the characters are out on the table, but there are still some more stuff I can say about them XD. As for the guess with Letti, the quote I posted with the picture and the ending quote in the last chapter are the same: that is no coincidence. ;)

**SGarrison: **I'm happy you enjoyed it - thanks for the review!**  
**


	25. I Wish You Luck, Mr Engst

fleets: a chapter shorter than the previous ones (well, the most recent one was a monster and I'm thinking that I should've stuck the latter half of that chapter onto this one. Oh wells).

* * *

**Chapter 24: I Wish You Luck, Mr. Engst **

Vaati swung his previously injured arm in a circle to test it out. Dugal had relinquished a bottle of blue potion he'd found, and though most of the pain in his arm had subsided, he could tell that it wasn't completely healed yet. Blue potions were less potent than red ones, but at least he didn't have to wince every time he moved the arm that had been shot. He then frowned at Dugal who was standing a few feet away, watching with fascination as a hawk might a mouse. The sorcerer growled. "You might have called a truce and you might have given me that potion you found, but you still did try to kill us so I don't trust you at all."

The man shrugged lazily, adjusting his glasses as he did so. "I would feel the same if I were in your position. Actually," he tapped his chin, "if I were you, I would have made sure someone like me was disposed of as soon as possible. Like let's say I turn my back on you right here, you should attack me, no?"

Vaati rolled his eyes when Dugal turned his back on them. "And risk getting into another fight with you instead of figuring out what to do about that fire thing down there? No thanks."

The man turned around and fixed his tie cheerfully. "Exactly. You can't beat me."

"Well if you keep that up, you're just asking us to attack you."

"But you won't."

Dugal sounded so sure of himself that Vaati almost shot a blast of magic. Almost. Instead, he changed the subject to ask something that had been bothering him from the time he'd seen the Talon leader in his Palace. "How did you get here anyway?"

"Yo Vaati! Hurry up and warp us out of here!" Dark's voice called impatiently. He was waving the sword he'd found frantically at the phoenix-like creature that appeared to be bracing itself to attack the city several miles away.

Dugal glanced over to the titanic bird far below them, and then to Vaati who had an uncomfortable expression on his face. The teen appeared to be grinding his teeth together and his muscles were tense. Dugal gave a sly smile when he began to realize why the sorcerer wanted to know how he'd arrived at the Palace. "I came here on my private jet. Why?"

As soon as he'd heard the answer, Vaati cursed under his breath. He'd been careless – when he'd teleported everyone to the Palace of Winds, he'd taken down the defenses that had made the Palace unreachable, but then he'd forgotten to put them up again. It was worrisome, how he was making careless mistakes left and right, and that was another reason why he wanted to avoid teleporting for some time.

"Vaati, come on we don't have time!" This time it was Link, and Vaati shot them an annoyed look. The annoyed look turned outright venomous when Dugal laughed in amusement.

"Haha, you can't take them back, can you?"

Zelda's eyes widened when she heard those words. "You can't?" She turned from Vaati to Dugal, and the two Links seemed equally shocked.

"I can," Vaati muttered indignantly. Then he added lamely, "It's just that I shouldn't."

"What do you mean?" Dark demanded.

The sorcerer glared. "It means that I suck at sorcery right now and that if there's a better alternative to reaching that thing then we should take it." The words were nippy with a twinge of sarcastic pessimism. "Unless you want to risk warping straight into a tree, then be my guest."

All too gleefully, Dugal bowed mockingly and then strutted over to another section of the Palace. Each fading chuckle made everyone want to punch something – namely his face. If only they could get away with it. "Aren't you children lucky that I'm around to help you? Follow me, I can fly us towards that monstrosity."

Had they had more time, they probably would have discussed their options and made sure they should even follow the man who had been trying to kill them previously. At the moment, however, time wasn't a luxury and they had no choice but to follow the Talon leader.

It didn't make them feel any better that Dugal knew full well of their situation and was rubbing it in their faces with an overly smug grin.

XXXXXXXXX

Wasting no time, they all ran towards the small plane that was sitting on the edge of one of the many outdoor platforms in the palace. Painted black and silver, the luxury jet with all the best modern improvements was out of place within the old castle in the sky. It annoyed Vaati a little to see the thing sitting there as an intruder that didn't belong. He admitted it fit Dugal's irritatingly condescending attitude perfectly, and he could swear that if the plane had a face, it would be mocking them right now with a perfect Dugal grin.

It was obvious that Dugal was proud of his plane, and he made sure to mention that it was a modified M20TN Acclaim, one of the best private jets on the market and the fastest one of its size. It was a time of urgency, yes, but the Talon leader wasn't the type of man to pass up the opportunity to brag a little. This wasn't winning him any fans from the teens, especially since the two Links had been forced to share one seat between each other. Vaati had called shotgun, and neither of the Links had had the courage to ask Zelda if she could share seats with them, leaving them the only option of sitting on top of each other.

"Ready?" Dugal asked, though he proceeded to start the engine without waiting for a reply.

"Yeah sure why not," Dark muttered unhappily, sitting uncomfortably on top of Link's lap who appeared just as disgruntled. They had both brought their swords on board, and they were poking Dark's ribs.

The plane lurched forward and picked up speed on the platform. Then, it nose-dived off of the edge instead of take off steadily like the teens had been expecting. The three in the back yelped, and Vaati was wracking his brains to see if he should attempt a warping spell after all, despite all of the risks involved.

Dugal calmly watched the ground approach, and occasionally smiled with pleasant amusement at the panicked passengers. "We're fine. I couldn't gain enough speed for takeoff on that tiny platform up there." He kept his eye on the speed, and then yanked the nose back up so that the little black plane was finally heading towards the bird-like deity. For several minutes, the others sat stiff in their seats with their fingers dug tightly into the leather armrests. Even the two Links seemed to have forgotten they were cramped together.

"Oh," Zelda managed at last.

"Thanks for warning us," Vaati grumbled, slightly frazzled. "I was this close to involving everyone in an extremely sketchy teleportation attempt."

Ignoring the grumbles from the rest of the crew, Dugal leaned forward and squinted at the blinding light coming from the deity. It had stopped circling the area above the destroyed Avilux I research facility, and was now slowly flapping its wings so that it floated steadily in one place. It was directly facing them, and they could hear a high-pitched screech vibrate above the engine's roar before its wings quickened and began to shoot straight for the plane. Dugal bit the corner of his lip when he saw the thing approach rapidly from a distance. "All right, so what plans did you kids have to stop that thing?"

There was an uncomfortable silence at the question, and when Vaati twisted his head to see the back seats he saw Link, Dark, and Zelda look to each other for ideas. The truth was, no one knew what they were going to do once they got close enough to the deity. Dugal sighed, and he would have pinched the bridge of his nose if he didn't have to direct the jet sharply to the right to avoid Avilux Ignis. The temperature inside the plane grew a few degrees hotter even though the bird had swooped by meters away. "I figured as much. You are terribly unprepared."

Link grimaced from having his ears pop from the change in pressure, as well as from Dugal's truthful comment. "Er, I have the Master Sword…" he suggested.

Vaati scowled. "Oh yeah, 'you have the Master Sword.' Wonderful. Because that's totally going to work against a flying fireball."

"Well a sword worked against a flying eyeball," Link retorted. Vaati shut up quickly from the comment. It was annoying, but it was true that the sorcerer who had once taunted that no one could defeat a god like him had been defeated by a mere boy with a sword. It worked once, no twice…

No.

Vaati shook his head, upset. _It worked three effing times…_

"It can work again, right?" Dark finished his thought, unaware of the increasingly angry glare of the sorcerer sitting in the front seat. Vaati's steely gaze looked like it would melt the windows off of Dugal's plane.

Dugal peered at them over the rim of his glasses. "Now how are you going to use a sword against an airborne target?" He frowned. "Well, first of all, how did a flying eye – and I'm not going to bother asking what that's supposed to mean – get defeated by a sword?"

Vaati suddenly slammed his fist against the window. "I got a little cocky, alright? Don't insult me!"

There was another lapse of silence. In the meanwhile, the plane spiraled expertly away from another pass made by Avilux Ignis. It seemed the deity was playing with them for the time being; giving Dugal chances to dodge it. Once they were clear, the Talon leader shook his head in disbelief. "Well. I have no idea what you're talking about, but from what I gather none of you have any plans. Ah well. I suppose we can fly around until I run out of fuel." He chuckled light-heartedly. "It's amazing what people can come up with when their lives are in immediate danger. Perhaps all we need is a little more…" his face darkened, "urgency."

He jerked his hands, causing the plane to dip its left wing towards the ground. Link felt his breath catch as they accelerated sharply downwards and into a tight circle. He then became highly disoriented when the plane barrel rolled the other way, away from a blinding beam of energy. Steadying himself and pushing Dark a little away from him, Link frowned when he noticed the two people up front actually seemed to be enjoying the ride. Though upset from before, Vaati was slightly smiling and Dugal wasn't even trying to hide the fact he was having fun with the aerial maneuvers. "I wasn't the best in the Air Force Academy for nothing," he grinned. He motioned a free hand towards the teens. "Come on, come on. Have you thought of any ideas yet? You know more about these things than I do, I imagine."

"Uhhhhh…" Dark and Zelda uttered simultaneously, while Link and Vaati sat staring flatly at the view. The sorcerer shrugged, and plopped his chin on his hand, muttering something about how initiating the flood may have been the best idea after all.

Just then, the plane lurched violently, throwing everyone against the backs of their seats. There was an unsettling rattle, and a sickening steel groan from somewhere below them. Zelda knew that something was terrifyingly wrong when the normally calm Dugal turned as pale as the sorcerer sitting next to him. "What was that?" Leaning forward, she gripped the back of the man's chair.

He laughed nervously – it was uncharacteristically weird coming from the overconfident man. "Well well well. It seems the engine has overheated: probably from that wretched bird."

"And what does that mean?" Dark asked cautiously, though he had a feeling he wasn't going to like the answer when the plane gave a weak putter and began to fall rapidly. The beautiful snow covered pines no longer looked so beautiful; especially with their sharp, spear-like points.

Dugal threw his hands up in the air and lazily rested them on the back of his head. It was an over exaggerated show of acting casual in the face of danger – perspiration was dripping from the Talon leader's forehead. "It means we have to think fast since urgency is at a maximum." He watched the view for a few seconds, and then brought his hands back on the controls. The plane angled slightly away from the ground though it continued to fall. "The most I can do right now is steady the plane while it falls. It won't glide for long, especially since we have more people on here than there are supposed to be."

Zelda was the first to act, quickly unstrapping herself and reaching under her seat. "Emergency parachutes," she directed sharply. The two Links and Vaati scrambled to grab their own. A dismayed voice came from Dark.

"There aren't enough for everyone!"

Arguing ensued.

"Hey Vaati, you can fly, right? Give us yours since you don't need it!"

"What? Don't assume I can fly just because I'm a wind mage! I'm not giving this up."

"What kind of a wind mage can't fly?"

"I _can_ fly! I'm just… ah… a little out of practice right now and I'm not sure I can pull it off…"

"Gosh, you suck."

"Fuck you."

"You're useless."

"You think you can do better, brat?"

"What about warping? Vaati, can't you at least try that?"

"Princess, I know you know I'm amazing, but that's a risk I don't want to take right now."

"Then what ARE we going to do right now?"

Their bickering came to an abrupt halt when Dugal plopped an emergency parachute onto Dark's lap from the front seat. The teens stared at him in disbelief, to which he responded with a careless shrug. "You know, parachutes won't work too well if we become too close to the ground. I suggest you all jump, and jump soon." There was a click, and the emergency doors on the plane dropped away. The wind screamed outside as the plane continued to fall towards its doom. "Go on. All of you have your parachutes, so there's no longer a problem, correct?"

"Dugal…" Zelda began, but was stopped short by a silver ringed finger.

"Ms. Sterling, either you jump or I shoot a bullet into each and every one of you for wasting my time."

They fidgeted uneasily. "But why?" the girl tried again.

A sly grin crept across the man's face. "I have my reasons." He shooed them away. "Go on now before I change my mind. I will be thoroughly upset if you waste my parachute." Seeing the look on everyone's faces, Dugal growled. "Oh would you stop looking at me like I just announced my fetish for coloring books and frilled dresses?"

Dark took a hesitant step towards the rushing air, and then paused. "Do you have a fetish for coloring boo –" he stopped talking when Dugal pulled out his gun with deliberation. One piercing look was all he needed to listen to the Talon leader and jump off the plane.

Link reached out a hand towards Zelda. The girl took it gingerly and the two stood on the edge of the doorway. With each passing second, the ground became closer and the details of the mountain forest became clearer. Link bowed his head, then looked up with determination. "Thanks Dugal." He turned to Zelda. "Ready?"

Zelda nodded, though her eyes were on the man who was giving up his life to save them. At least, that's what it looked like. It was difficult to read whether or not Dugal's sly grin was out of a final show of bravado or because he had some other plans they weren't aware of. She quickly turned away when Dugal gave a curt nod in return. "Yes." Without waiting for Link, she jumped, her hands slipping out of his. Link raised his eyebrows in surprise, and then followed.

The only person remaining was Vaati. The sorcerer watched Dugal putting a tremendous effort in keeping the accelerating plane steady.

The man tilted his chin towards the door. "I suggest you hurry up, Mr. Engst."

Wordlessly, the pale mage stepped towards the door with his parachute. He placed a hand on the edge of the door where the wind ripped across his face. "It'll make more sense if I try to save myself with my own abilities and you take the parachute." He gave a slightly accusatory look at the pilot. "You know that, don't you?"

"Would you please jump out of the plane? We are running out of time." Hazel eyes stared straight ahead.

"It's true I'm not that good with warping or anything yet, but at least I can try."

"Based on your reaction with your friends earlier, there's a high risk involved, yes? You might not survive it."

"But I have a higher chance of surviving without a parachute than yo-"

He was cut short by the end of a pistol pointed at him. "I am running out of patience," Dugal snapped.

Vaati hesitated. He wanted to talk to the man a little longer to see what his motives were for playing martyr. It made no sense to the sorcerer, and he had a gnawing suspicion that Dugal was hiding something. The inside of the plane gradually started glowing a warm orange color, signifying the approach of Avilux Ignis – there was no time to talk.

Just as Vaati was about to jump, Dugal's glasses glinted. "I wish you luck, Mr. Engst."

Vaati stepped out of the plane.

XXXXXXXX

The shrieking rattles from the dying plane were the only thing accompanying the infamous leader of Talon Three. He watched the ground rushing up with an amused expression of acceptance. It was inevitable that he was going to crash into one of the many trees that covered the mountains. He never really worried too much about sticky situations – perhaps he'd become too jaded by them, or maybe it was this tendency not to worry that kept him in such a shady business for so long.

A part of him was second-guessing whether or not giving up his lifeline to the teens was a good idea. What the Engst boy had said was true – it made more sense to let the pale teen handle the risks since he seemed to be gifted with extraordinary abilities. The plane jerked, and Dugal shook away his unease in wondering if he'd made the right choice.

Half of it had to do with pride. He was more dramatic than he cared to admit, and it pleased him when he thought of the last impressions of him he'd left the troublesome teens. It had bothered Dugal that the kids had made him admit defeat up on the floating palace, and he wasn't about to let them steal his show.

Because it _was _his show. He was supposed to have been the ringmaster in this entire enterprise, and he wasn't about to let some brat from New Jersey one-up him.

The other half… well…

Dugal gently let go of the controls and moved towards the door of the plane. The ground below was so close now that he could hear the rustle of the pines. The plane roared in protest, but it was no use. It was going to crash.

The man straightened his tie one last time. The truth was, he had no intention of self-sacrificing himself for a bunch of kids he had initially gone after to dispose of. There was a trump card he hadn't wanted to reveal, and if he could take this opportunity to separate himself from the teens then he was damn well going to take it. He reached his hand inside his suit jacket.

Halstead Dugal wasn't about to go down that easily.

XXXXXXXXX

Vaati groaned. The last thing he remembered was tugging the release on the parachutes before seeing Avilux Ignis charge him with a deafening scream. He could have sworn the deity had collided with him, and that he should have been burned to cinders.

His palm slid across a cool, glass-like floor. Startled by feeling something foreign where he had expected pine leaves and dirt at the very least, the sorcerer shot up from the ground. What he saw surprised him.

The rest of them were all there, standing with confused expressions as they took in a dark surrounding that seemed to light with a magical blue. The ground appeared to be transparent save for ancient runes that occasionally blinked and flickered with the same electric color. Beneath was a tumultuous jumble of dark clouds that weaved back and forth in a thick fog. Vaati recognized what this was: it was a dimensional trap.

"What happened?" Dark asked. They all had the same question. "After I jumped, I think that bird ran over me."

"Us too," Zelda nodded. She looked around. "I guess Dugal didn't get caught in that…"

There was a flash, and everyone braced themselves when Avilux Ignis suddenly spread its wings of light and screeched its entrance. Slow, rhythmical beatings of its wings filled the silence, and it regarded the four with mild curiosity. A melodious, sexless voice rang in the four's ears as the deity spoke.

"Keepers of Courage, Keeper of Wisdom, and the Sorcerer gifted with the power of a god. What an interesting collection."

Link pulled out the Master Sword from its sheath. "What are you?"

Avilux Ignis gave an unsettling giggle in the voice of a little girl. "The Blade of Evil's Bane only works for evil beings, little hero. I am the Goddess of Chaos; a sword that serves the goddesses will not turn against a goddess." Now in the voice mimicking Skull Kid, the goddess laughed. "I think you can keep me entertained. I have entrapped you in a timeless dimension so you have all the time in the world. Play with me for a little while."

"What… what kind of a goddess is this?" Zelda whispered in disbelief.

"A chaotic one." Dark readied his sword as well, even though he wasn't really sure how much help it was going to be against something that didn't have a solid body.

Avilux Ignis's voice changed one more time, this time into one that Link recognized all too well. It was a rough, gravelly voice of the desert. It was Ganondorf's.

"You have something that I want," it growled with the voice of the Gerudo. "The desire for it was especially prominent in the Keeper of Power. It's… fascinating." It was then that Link noticed a small gold triangle floating just above the bird's crown. He felt sick to the stomach when he realized what it was and where it must have come from.

"I want the world, but before that…"

In a creepily cheerful voice, the girl's giggles returned.

"I want the power of my sisters."

* * *

fleets: Whoops, that little alliance with Dugal was more short lived than I had anticipated. And now he's gone to who knows where (well, I know where but I'm going to be mean and not tell you right now).

No cookies will be awarded yet to the people who've guessed the identity of Letti's brother mentioned on my devart account. It was initially supposed to be mentioned in this chapter, but it didn't happen since my plans for the chapter partitioning have changed. It'll be mentioned in the next one, or even the one after depending on how much I end up writing.

Some of you have been getting the feeling that the story is wrapping up to a close. You're right, it is. However, I still do have a few major twists left. I'll try to keep you entertained until the very end ;)

**Kishoto:** short lived alliance is short lived lol. Ah well. Dugal is so full of himself.  
I've only played one FE game, but I think I might get the reference. ;)

**Shadow R-B: **Ah, well, not really. I only look at how the reviews are signed, and yours was already changed when I checked. And yeah, Vaati needs to step up his game because right now he's just making a fool of himself (not that I blame him, 8000 years is a long time of not doing anything). The final battle is definitely close. So close, in fact, that I can tell you that it'll be in the next chapter. **  
**

**Midna Hytwilian: **Pride is such a sin. And now Dugal is being affected with it too (these two should never work together). Too bad Zelda's the type to believe in true love (in this story) and Vaati is... well... Vaati. **  
**

**i-wish-799: **I completely, 100 percent agree with you. I feel that it would have been better if I stuck the latter half of the last chapter onto this one (think about it if I ever re-edit this). Vaati's still not getting it yet. He will though, before long. :D**  
**

**Sapphiet: **Temporary truce was indeed temporary - it was so short-lived! And what ARE they going to do? Things aren't looking very bright for them (or rather, too blindingly bright from Avi... ok, that was a bad joke). **  
**

**Vaati the wind mage1: **You're right, you shouldn't trust him. ;)**  
**

**msfcatlover: **I actually had that quote in mind when I was writing that, and I was going to mention it in a later chapter, so good job for catching the reference! Oh Skull Kid... his fate will be mentioned for sure since he's a character too important to let go. **  
**

**xBlackDragoonx: **8000 years is such a long time. Even five years is a long time to me, so I don't know what that must feel like (nor do I want to know - that sounds absolutely miserable). Aw, yeah, me too. It'll feel weird when I don't have to work on this anymore. **  
**

**Reily96: **Hahaha, I might have to change that quote lol. But uh... yeah, Dugal left. O.o; Ionno how I feel about that right now. **  
**

**Purplegc: **Potions! If we had those we'll never need doctors, hence we'll save billions of dollars that thousands of people spend on med school. **  
**

**Ephriokko: **Ahaha! I laughed so much at your last comment about the cell phone. And yeahhhhh I dunno how I'm going to feel when this huge project finally ends. It'll feel weird for sure.**  
**

**LinkxDarkLink: **That fight scene gave me a lot of problems (since Dugal had a modern weapon and I also didn't want to make Vaati be automatic pwnage to an unfair degree). Glad it worked out though!**  
**

**SGarrison: **Thanks!**  
**

**SubZeroChimera: **Whoohoo, thank you!**  
**

**henslight: **I give props to game designers who can come up with really good villains, since people expect epic bosses that aren't SO epic that they'll kill the hero with one hit. And they can't be so stupid either, since that'll just make the audience face palm and wonder why he/she managed to present a threat in the first place.  
I'm missing Skull Kid too... I wanted to write about him but couldn't find a way to fit him in. **  
**


	26. Avilux Ignis

fleets: Seems like some bad things have good outcomes (those of you who read my devart journal know what I'm referring to) - I just gained some more free time and went on a huge writing frenzy, so the update is way earlier than usual. :)

Dun dun dun! The chapter that the entire story is named after is finally here! Do you know what that means? It means the end is near! D:

* * *

**Chapter 25: Avilux Ignis**

"I want the power of my sisters."

The four of them stared at Avilux Ignis, the goddess who was proving to be more of a monster than a deity. Magic crackled between Vaati's fingers and his lips twisted into a nasty smile. "The hell you'll get them."

The sorcerer summoned a powerful beam of magic that caused everyone to shield their eyes from the brightness. The hairs along Dark's neck tingled as the beam jolted through and hit the bird squarely in the chest. It gave a high-pitched screech, and then it vanished with an explosion of light.

Vaati stood huffing, slightly spent from the efforts of his attack. The tips of his fingers were singed from a small case of backfiring, but he was proud to say that he had had that spell under control. Straightening himself out, he got his breath back and sneered at the empty space where the goddess had once been. "Heh. No one can withstand my ultimate spell."

Link, Dark, and Zelda stood dumbfounded at what had happened, and it took them a while to register that the deity was, indeed, "dead." Link was especially baffled, since he wasn't used to having "bosses" defeated so easily. His eyes wandered around the room in suspicion. "That's all?"

The sorcerer picked at his nails lazily. "Yes, that's all." He chuckled. "Instead of playing around like I usually do, I figured I would start with the best I had. I guess I overdid it a little." At this point, Vaati threw his head back and laughed maniacally, his 'evil sorcerer' personality showing itself.

It took Vaati a few seconds to realize that he wasn't the only one laughing. Stopping abruptly with an insulted look on his face, he narrowed his eyes at his three friends to see which one of them had mocked him. None of them were laughing, yet the ringing snickers were still continuing.

"That's all?" Link's voice echoed, even though the blond hadn't opened his mouth to say anything. It was in the same tone of voice he had used earlier, but upon listening closely, one could tell there was a mocking edge to it. A fit of girlish giggles ensued, and then there was a warm, yellow-orange glow as Avilux Ignis returned with full flare. "You got me, little wind mage, but you have to do better than that."

Vaati cracked his knuckles. "Little…" he repeated with a broken smile.

Dark inched over next to Zelda and nodded his head towards the sorcerer. "He's snapped," the modern Link observed.

"_How DARE you belittle me!"_

Swift barrages of magic exploded like firecrackers as the wind mage unleashed his rage on the deity. The bird itself giggled and vanished multiple times, being defeated and then returning to life once more. After some time, Vaati staggered out of breath and glared venomously at the being that continued to laugh at him. His hands shook, discolored to a raw red from some of the magic he had failed to control.

"Sword beam!" Link stepped up, swinging his sword in an arc and releasing a pulsating beam that shot towards Avilux Ignis. It knocked its target backwards, and then the deity 'died' once more before coming back again with the same, creepy giggle.

Dark grit his teeth. "Nothing's working. Now what?"

The deity spread its wings. "Now it's my turn." It flapped its broad wings once, and a wave of fire erupted around the teens with enormous force. When it had subsided, Avilux appeared to nod in approval. "Good work little sorcerer. I knew you had it in you."

Vaati said nothing with his face contorted into extreme concentration to keep the magical barriers up around everyone. His arm that had been injured in the fight with Dugal seemed to be taking a toll, and he gripped it tightly after he relaxed and let the barriers fall. He muttered something under his breath.

"What?" Link asked.

"I said it's useless." The sorcerer repeated a little louder this time.

Dark sniffed. "Well thank you so much for instilling hope in us."

Vaati ignored him. "We're not fighting the real goddess, so no matter how many times we beat it, we won't be able to win."

"Then what are we fighting?" Zelda asked.

"It's a projection. I wasn't sure at first, but now I'm convinced that I'm not just imagining another source of magic coming from somewhere besides that bird."

Avilux's girlish voice sounded impressed. "So you figured it out! That's great." It taunted, "And what are you going to do about it, huh?"

Link turned sharply towards Vaati. "Vaati! Can you escape this place by warping?"

The sorcerer hesitated. "I can try," he said cautiously.

Link nodded. "Then take Zelda with you and find the real one. Dark and I will stay here and hold this one off; all of us won't be able to go because then this bird will just chase us again and trap us in this timeless zone." Noting the look on Zelda's face, Link smiled encouragingly. "It's all right – we're good at surviving things, right Dark?"

Vaati snorted. "That is so painfully true." Taking a deep breath, he prepared to warp out of the strange dimensional space the goddess had created for her 'entertainment.' "Good luck."

"Vaati."

Vaati stopped to face Link.

"Make sure nothing happens to her."

"Heh. Of course."

In the blink of an eye, Vaati and Zelda disappeared from view. Now there were only the two Links and Avilux left, and the voice of the girl shrilled, " Awwww, it's so adorable when mortals try so hard to survive. But now the little sorcerer has left, and both of you don't have any means of defending yourselves from my power. You hero types sure like to uneven the playing field."

Link and Dark gripped their swords tighter as the deity hovered closer. A bead of sweat rolled down Dark's nose when the temperature became slightly hotter.

"I can incinerate you both instantaneously if I wanted to, but I've decided against that this time," Avilux claimed, the temperature returning back to normal. "It was rather boring when I got rid of the Keeper of Power so swiftly," it complained, switching over to the voice of Skull Kid. "This time, I intend to keep the fun going for as long as possible. You had better cooperate, or I'm going to reduce you to ashes in a flash. That'll make me sad, you know?"

Link and Dark prepared themselves. They pointed their swords at the deity simultaneously.

"Bring it!"

XXXXXXXXXX

"Vaati! You're hurt."

"I'm fine…" Vaati pushed Zelda away and staggered forward. He winced from a jolt of pain from his ribs, but he bit his tongue and began to walk. He had been aiming for the general location where he thought he sensed a collection of magic, and had ended up above the Avilux I research facility they had first visited. He had misjudged terribly, however, and he and Zelda had found themselves a mile above the ground. The sorcerer had managed to correct his mistake somewhat by hastily teleporting again to somewhere closer to the ground, but this had caused him to smash into a jagged rock that was jutting out of the ground. Luckily, Zelda had gotten out of the problem with only a few bruises.

"Watch your step," Zelda called a second too late as Vaati stumbled over the fallen rubble. Despite his protests, she helped him up while looking around her surroundings.

The mountaintop had cratered from Avilux's explosive exit, and a good portion of the underground facility lay exposed in a mangled mess of concrete and utility wires. Puddles dripped around them from the snow that had melted, and most of the forest had been completely burned away. The temperature was slightly warm as well. "That goddess did this?" Zelda whispered in disbelief. "Does Link and Dark… do they…" she couldn't find a way to finish her sentence.

Vaati looked up at the sky. " 'Do they stand a chance?' That's what you're wondering, right?"

Zelda nodded.

The sorcerer was quiet for a while as they stepped over the fallen stone and made their way over to what looked like a hole in the ground. He sneered. "That guy, he can surprise you. I wouldn't worry about him." He peered over the edge of the square hole that was partially covered by the ruins of the facility. It appeared to be what remained of the elevator shaft. "Before that, let's worry about finding the real Avilux Ignis."

"Is she down there?"

Vaati scratched his chin, and then nodded with conviction. "I'm almost positive. Here, I can get us down there safely with levitation magic. I think I can handle it this time."

"Are you sure? It's hurting your arm, isn't it? I've noticed how you've been rubbing that arm that Dugal shot every time you try something."

The sorcerer stared at his hurt arm flatly. As much as he hated to admit it, Zelda was right. It was straining to perform magic – that was one of the major reasons that not many people mastered it. If his arm were completely fine, then he wouldn't have noticed just how much his spells were exerting him. Irritation flashed across his face, and he balled his other hand into a fist. Suddenly flicking his fingers, he allowed a whip of air slit across the sleeve of his sweatshirt, cutting it by the shoulders.

"Wha – what are you doing?" Zelda exclaimed when she saw that some of the wind had cut through the cloth and had cut his arm as well. There was a dark purple welt where the bullet wound was, along with a shallow cut from the wind magic that went around above it. Whipping up a cold wind, Vaati froze a small puddle into ice, and then tied the ice tightly over his welt with the sleeve he had sliced off of his hoodie.

He gave a stubborn look at the surprised girl. "I used to be the greatest sorcerer in the world. That's all I have to say." He cocked his head towards the elevator shaft. "Now are you coming with me or not?"

The girl sighed, and then moved closer to the edge of the hole. "All right. Let's go."

XXXXXXXXX

The two Links stood tense as they eyed the energy sphere that was spinning in front of Avilux Ignis's beak. "I have a game for you," the girl's voice addressed them, the sphere gradually growing in size. "This energy sphere will follow you until you manage to hit it away with a sword beam. Each time it is hit you will pass it to each other, but if you fail to do so then it will explode in your face." The deity flapped its wings and released the sphere towards Link. "The one who survives the game the longest wins."

"Tch!" Link braced himself and swung the Master Sword so that it released a sword beam. Upon hitting the sphere, it changed its course and targeted Dark instead.

"Aaah!"

"Dark!"

Dark was swept off of his feet when the energy sphere collided into him and white flames erupted around him instantaneously. He shouted in pain and surprise, and then shakily brushed himself off while gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.

"Dark, why didn't you use your sword beam?"

The dark haired teen glanced down at his sword and then shook his head. "I don't know how."

"_What?_"

"Ahahaha! There's no time to chat because here comes round two" Avilux chimed with another energy sphere. Once again, it was directed towards Link who quickly reflected it with a sword beam.

"Focus all your energy to your sword – I don't know how else to explain it!" Link shouted.

Dark dashed away from the sphere in an attempt to dodge it. At the same time, he seemed to be trying to figure out how to create a sword beam. Dark was in for a surprise when the sphere abruptly veered around from its trajectory so that it was still coming straight for him. It hit him again, and Link grimaced when he heard his partner cry out.

The giggly girl's voice tittered, "There is no use running away. You have to play by my rules, and that means you have to master the sword beam before your friend incinerates you." She laughed when she noted Link's expression. "It is true, Farore's pet. Every time you succeed your friend will be hurt. Will you let your guilt eat you up, or will you demonstrate to your friend what little faith you have in his success by harming yourself?" Another energy sphere formed. "Oops, no time to think now because another one is on the way."

"L-Link, don't listen to her, just send them my way," Dark snarled, still staggering from his last attack. "I just have to try."

"But…" Link hesitated while he stared at the oncoming attack.

"Just shut up and do it!"

_Zing!_

Link let the Master Sword shoot another sword beam at the sphere, making it target Dark instead. He turned his head away when he heard the sphere explode into flames again, along with Dark's yell.

"Damn it, I'll get it next time." Dark's jacket was now falling apart to tatters.

Another sphere, and Link obliged to Dark's wishes with an increasingly furious expression. His friend was running out of energy, and it wouldn't be long before he collapsed completely. Dark swung his sword but he couldn't get the grasp of the sword beam. After all, just a few days ago Dark had been completely oblivious to a world where ancient magic was possible. Finally having enough, Link took a deep breath and lowered his sword. He felt a shock run through his body along with momentary intense heat as he allowed the attack to hit him. He coughed, and heard Dark's angry protests above the deity's laughter.

"What in Farore's name do you think you're doing?" Dark shouted furiously.

"Just… think about how to beat that thing while I take the damage. You can't take any more hits." Link held out his sword in front of him and closed his eyes.

"You idiot, I'm not going to let you stand there and be clobbered like that!"

"Then don't let me get clobbered and think fast!"

Avilux Ignis charged up another energy shot, and its crown flickered brightly in amusement. "Ahaha! You're fighting over who gets to die first? That's too funny. I thought your life was the most important thing for you mortals."

The hand around Dark's sword shook as he watched the sphere glow white while Link stood calmly in front of it without any intention of hitting it back. "You wouldn't understand, freak," he hissed. In his anger, he didn't notice the edge of his blade flicker slightly with a blue tint. As soon as the sphere shot towards Link, Dark made a run for the deity and swung his sword in an arch with as much power as he could.

The sword blazed red-hot when it came in contact with the phoenix's core, and to his surprise it unleashed a sword beam inside it. The deity screeched and it vanished, with the sword beam blasting a hole through its middle.

Link, equally in tatters as Dark, ran towards him when he saw what he had done. "Are you ok?"

Dark struck the blond's hand away angrily. Rounding on him, he snarled. "Don't you _ever_ sacrifice yourself for me again."

"I can say the same to you," Link said huffily. "I'm not about to stand and watch someone get hurt."

A sudden pain interrupted the two teens when searing temperatures crackled across their skin and made them drop to their knees in agony. Avilux Ignis had returned in a flash, and this time she didn't sound too cheerful. The bird brought its beak closer towards Dark who was rubbing his face in an attempt to lessen the burning sensation. "I told you to play my game." The voice was pouty and accusing, much like a spoiled little girl's.

Dark spat in its face in response, to which the deity retreated in surprise. Then it snickered lightly, changing the topic with confusing abruptness. Its attitude was exactly like a child's in this regard.

"Fine, I have another game then. We won't stop playing until you guys are done for. I won't have any use for broken toys anyway – they're not important at all."

Link looked down at his legs that were weak from the damage they had taken earlier, and then at Dark who was also trying his best to remain standing. The hero sighed. "Hurry up, Vaati. We can't last like this."

XXXXXXXXX

Progress was slow for Vaati and Zelda as they crawled and ducked through the debris of the basement levels of the ruined facility. It was incredibly dark as well, and they only had a small orb of magical light summoned by the sorcerer so they could see where they were going. Zelda moved through first, being more flexible to twist around the pipes and broken steel rods that were blocking the way.

"Where are we going?" Zelda asked, feeling claustrophobic from the tight space and stifling darkness. The soft dripping sound coming from the broken pipelines weren't of any comfort either.

Vaati paused at an intersection in what had once been a hallway, and then tilted his head to the right. "Over there."

Following Vaati's instructions, Zelda felt her way past the rubble and squeezed her way through to the collapsed hallway on the right. The damage worsened as they crawled through, and she began to worry that they would eventually reach a dead end. Interestingly enough, however, they reached a point where the rubble became less severe and they could walk through the place without having to crawl around. The slanted walls straightened out again, and even the doors to some rooms were still intact. It was out of place, and it made the girl uncomfortable. Apparently Vaati felt the same as well.

"This is strange… I think we're close."

Zelda's ears pricked when she heard the faint muffle of voices coming through the closed doors in front of them at the end of the hall. She held up a hand to signal the other teen to be careful. "There's someone there," she whispered.

Sticking low to the ground, they swiftly yet quietly made their way closer to the door. Crouching on either side of it, they caught their breath. Zelda glanced at the sorcerer, and then gently pressed her palm against the door so that it opened a crack. She jumped when it hit against a fallen computer monitor on the other side, and then she applied a little more pressure to push it aside enough so that they would be able to get through. A timid, frightened voice drifted out through the doors.

"Are we the only ones left?"

Vaati and Zelda exchanged looks of surprise. "Skull Kid," the wind mage mouthed, and the girl nodded. The troublesome boy's voice repeated urgently when he received no response.

"Letti! Why is everyone dead?"

The little girl's voice that they had heard the Goddess of Chaos use earlier replied impatiently. Hearing that voice caused the two eavesdroppers to freeze. "I told you they didn't interest me. They were boring, useless things and they tried to stop me. Didn't you agree that they were boring and useless too, Skull Kid?"

"Yeah, but you didn't have to go that far!"

"Why not?"

"Because it's wrong, and it's not fun."

"Of course it's fun. I thought having fun entailed anything that you derived enjoyment out of, and getting rid of those boring things made me happy. There are more important things in the world than the bumbling lot that resided here."

Zelda dared to peer over the desk that she had crawled towards to take a better look at what was going on. Skull Kid was standing by the machine that Dugal had shown her during her tour of the facility, and he was wringing his hands around the blue ocarina in worry. In front of him, sitting on top of the platform of Dr. Willits' machine, was a little girl who looked to be the same age of Skull Kid. She was swinging her bare feet in the air, causing her gold anklet to jingle rhythmically. Her hair flickered like fire between gold and yellow, and it waved around her neck in two girlish pigtails, partially covering some light green symbols on her right shoulder. Flicking her yellow-orange skirt out of boredom, the girl continued to kick her legs to listen to Skull Kid.

"But what about me? Why did you keep me alive?"

Her yellow eyes flickered, and upon closer inspection, Zelda noticed that she had strange white pupils that shouldn't exist on normal humans. The girl gave Skull Kid an 'are you stupid?' expression. "You're important."

"I… I am?" Skull Kid stuttered in surprise. Out of all the things he considered himself, being important was not one of them. He couldn't help but blush a little from the flattery.

"Of course you are," the girl named Letti said matter-of-factly. "Those other mortals treated you with extreme care, and they always became paranoid whenever something happened to you. They wouldn't have treated you that way if you weren't important, am I right?"

"I guess so."

"You must be important. I want you for myself."

Skull Kid was at a loss for words, and all he could do was scratch the back of his head in embarrassment. No one had ever considered him worth talking to, or even desirable for that matter. In his entire life, everyone had always run away from him because of his strange looks and testing sense of humor. "Thanks…" he mumbled under his breath, hastily hiding his face under his hat.

Letti summoned a tiny fire fairy that had originally been conjured by the Ocarina of Time, and allowed it to circle around over her head. "You freed me from that stupid ocarina, too," she added. "It was so dumb. I can't believe my sisters did that to me. Said I needed to be 'grounded for eternity' – how dare they treat me like a child!"

From his hiding spot, Vaati rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath. "Well you look like a child and act like a child; what did you expect?" He was careful not to be heard, however, and listened to their conversation patiently.

Skull Kid blew a note on the ocarina. "Your sisters are goddesses, right? Why were they angry at you?"

"They're not just any goddesses. They are _the_ goddesses, Nayru, Din, and Farore. Not that I care what they are, those stuck up good-for-nothings." Letti crossed her arms childishly over her chest. "All they cared about was making this perfect little world all to themselves, and they didn't let anyone else play with it. I just wanted to have some fun, but they said I was causing too much Chaos for the world to handle so they put me away along with my brother."

"You have a brother too?"

"Yup!" She grinned, the triangular markings painted across her face stretching upwards into a crescent. "He's my younger brother too, but he likes to pretend he's older. He's so immature though! He thought it was cool to make the little mortals fight each other in massive wars and have them worship him as a war god. His games had no finesse like mine did – my games involved mind games, while his were simple clashes of numbers." She waved her arms to demonstrate the scale of the battles. "He called himself the Fierce Deity. Fierce indeed! He didn't have the guts to ruin our sisters' precious Hyrule, so he stuck around the less important Termina instead. Well, him and that silly Majora. Those two were always stumbling around that place while never being bold enough to play in Hyrule. That's why my sisters let him have a little more influence than I did for punishment. At least he could live again through a special mask."

"I wish I had a brother…" Skull Kid sighed.

"No you don't," Letti made a face. Suddenly, her eyes widened and she looked straight towards the door where Zelda and Vaati were hiding. She stared at it long enough to make the teens uneasy.

Vaati grit his teeth. "She noticed."

"Ahaha! I was waiting for you two. Why are you hiding? We're not playing hide-and-seek, silly kids," Letti laughed. It was a happy kind of laughter that could be described as sinister at the same time. Having no choice now that their cover was blown, Zelda and Vaati stood up and stepped into view. There was a gasp from Skull Kid, and he pointed a finger at Vaati.

"White guy! What are you doing here?" He stomped his foot angrily. "Do you still want to be mean to me, jerk?"

Vaati ignored him, which caused Skull Kid to rant louder. The boy finally shut up when the little girl held up a finger. She shook her head with her eyes closed, wagging her finger while tutting. "I was expecting them here, Skull Kid. In fact, these two are very important people." Slowly opening her eyes with a near predatory gaze, she pointed a finger at Vaati and then at Zelda. "This is the Sorcerer of Winds who has gained power that matches the gods, and this is the Keeper of Wisdom, also known as the Princess of Destiny. They are very important people Skull Kid. Perhaps more important than you."

Skull Kid bit his tongue, a little shocked and hurt by his friend's words. Feeling rejected, he frowned and moped towards the corner to kick a piece of rubble. Letti didn't seem to notice nor care as she continued.

"Since you've managed to find me, allow me to introduce myself." She curtsied politely. "I have been recently named 'Avilux Ignis.' It is a pretty name, is it not? I will let you call me that if you'd like." She covered her mouth to suppress a giggle. Instead of finding it cute, Zelda was beginning to find the girlish giggles incredibly creepy. It was disgusting to see such a terrifying character emerge from someone who took on the appearance of a little girl. "My real name, however, is Aleta. I am the Fourth Goddess and the most important one of all. I will not allow you to call me Aleta," she added sternly. Then, she smiled sweetly. "I will let you call me Letti instead."

"You picked the wrong person to mess w –" Vaati began, but was interrupted by a powerful flash of magic that exploded in his face. It had come out of nowhere, and he had been thrown back against the far wall of the room with incredible force. His head ringing from the impact, he could only hear a muffled jumble of words from Zelda who was no doubt asking him if he was all right. His vision was slightly blurry from the blinding light as well, and he rubbed his hand across them to clear his sight. That was when he noticed that his knuckles were bloodied from the attack.

When his hearing finally returned to normal, they were greeted by the ringing of Letti's childish laughter. She narrowed her eyes and her mouth curled upwards into a poisonous grin.

"Ahaha," she laughed, "so much for having the powers of god, little sorcerer."

Vaati staggered up and steadied himself. He was in shock that he had been hit by an attack he hadn't expected. Vaati couldn't believe it, but he was actually feeling worried about this fight. He knew Letti was just toying with them and could make them disappear in a second if she wished.

How in the world was he going to win against a monster like that?

He swallowed. At least he wasn't going to show he was worried. He was the most powerful sorcerer in the world for a reason.

Straightening himself out, he gave his best arrogant sneer while wishing he still had his old cape to whirl around in the most badass way he could think of. Vaati chuckled, all the while wondering what he was doing provoking Letti further. "You are unwise to think you can beat me."

Letti blinked, and then smiled broadly. "Ooooh very big words. Don't disappoint me."

* * *

fleets: COOKIE FOR THOSE WHO GUESSED FIERCE DEITY! There were an overwhelming amount of guesses for Majora, but for some reason I see Majora as a "she" if any gender _had_ to be assigned (to be honest I see Majora as an "it." Opinions can probably change after I actually play the game though instead of just reading the manga). Letti totally has no respect for Fierce Deity though haha.

So I did a final chapter count, and I think there are roughly three to four more chapters left before the end of the story. Ideally I'd like to make it to 30 chapters since I like that number better, but 30 is kinda pushing it. We shall see ;)  
We're almost at the finale! I'll be a free person once more :D

**i-wish-799: **They're not really enemies even though they have every right to be. Under different circumstances, Dugal and Vaati probably could have worked together (to the horror of the world). **  
**

**Midna Hytwilian: **Ack! So THAT'S how they're taking advantage of us! DX**  
**

**Shadow R-B: **Mmm, well, I can't really say much on Ganondorf (and it's Ganondorf - i.e. Ford Gagnon = anagram of Ganondorf ;) ) but I'll say this much: I'm not going to follow the pattern of my previous stories of having Ganondorf steal the bad guy show AGAIN. **  
**

**LinkxDarkLink: **Haha, well, I don't know if you can call it "being nice" since it's hinted he had ulterior motives for doing so :P. We'll get back to that later (shhh, pretend that's not important at all for now). **  
**

**Reily96: **Ya know, I was considering making it sound like I'd killed Dugal off completely in the last chapter instead of leaving it ambiguous, because after I wrote it that way it sounded totally lame. I do create OCs so that I can kill them (lookie what happened to Opal, Daeia, Harrier, etc. They're all dead) but confirming Dugal's death in the last chapter would have been too sudden D: I also felt it would have been met with unhappy readers. **  
**

**Astral S. Kepeire: **Aww :( I'm sorry you felt bad... I'm glad you're feeling better though! No one likes to see someone upset. Haha, yeah, there's no way I'll leave Dugal's fate left hanging like that without ever mentioning it again. It'll be unfair to the readers and it'll be a big gaping hole in the story (so you're right, he'll be mentioned again for sure). And it's true I do have surprises (though what kind of surprise I cannot say). His self-doubting attitude though; I think it might make more sense after I write about him again (daaang, you're perceptive. I wasn't sure if anyone would find that fishy - good job. Seems like you always catch me).

**henslight: **Yeah, Link hasn't been getting the spotlight lately - mostly because Vaati could do a better job at the same thing now that he has magic back (sorry Link!). He was slightly more useful in this chapter though (even though I still think the best parts were stolen by the sorcerer yet again). Yes indeedy, the final battle is on!**  
**

**Sapphiet: **No, you were right. It was the Fierce Deity. I couldn't reveal it last chapter though because I hadn't reached that point (though now I can). Nope, and their situation might have gotten worse...**  
**

**SubZeroChimera: **Not exactly - Avilux was just saying she wanted the Triforce because that was Ganondorf's wish (as well as world domination). She still doesn't really know why she wants certain things; all she knows is that some things are valuable to other people, and thus she thinks she wants them as well. **  
**

**msfcatlover: **Huh, I never new that. So red potions and blue potions have different effects across games? And oh Dugal - I haven't finished writing about what happened to him after that - whether he lives or dies, and what he reached for in his jacket. Vaati's soft side - it's good that you mentioned it because that issue will come up again before this story is over ;)**  
**

**Ephriokko: **If there's one thing Dugal and Vaati have in common, it's his ridiculous stubbornness. And yes, it's totally normal to find Avilux Ignis aka Letti creepy. In fact, it's encouraged. XD**  
**

**xBlackDragoonx: **Now whether or not that's true... O.o; I guess we'll never know. Letti isn't so cute anymore probably... but I still like her bratty evilness! (pats her head - incinerated by Letti as well as a jealous Opal). ow...**  
**


	27. Swan Song

fleets: while it's true that starcraft 2 is extremely distracting in a wonderful way, it's also true that I cannot play games during my work hours. However, I can still write during work hours muahaha.

* * *

**Chapter 26: Swan Song**

Skull Kid watched helplessly as the battle between the sorcerer and the deity begin. He didn't care what happened to the 'white guy' since he didn't like the way he treated him, but at the same time he didn't understand why his new friend needed to kill anyone. He was all for pulling pranks and playing games, but he had never wished real harm on anybody. Only pain and hurt came out of killing, and Skull Kid didn't want to believe that Letti had no qualms about erasing the existence of anyone she didn't like.

All he wanted was someone to accept him so he could share fun times and make memories together, and yet…

"S-stop," he said hoarsely. Skull Kid took a few paces towards the fierce exchange of spells. Why were they fighting? Was it because of the mean wind mage?

Skull Kid gripped the oversized sleeves of his sweatshirt tightly. That had to be it; if that stupid white guy hadn't been so mean to Letti, then she wouldn't be fighting now. She would be paying attention to him, and he wouldn't be feeling so rejected. If it weren't for Vaati, he would be having fun. Skull Kid ran towards the fight. "Stop it!"

The boy was knocked backwards when an arm shot out from nowhere and hooked him around his chest. Zelda held him in a tight embrace to keep him from approaching the fight. "No, Skull Kid! You can't go near them."

As soon as he felt the girl's arms around him tighten, he struggled furiously. Tugging and clawing at the arms that held him, Skull Kid protested to get his captor to let go. Zelda was too strong for him, however, and wouldn't let him budge.

Suddenly, a violent rumble stopped his efforts of escaping Zelda's grip. All this time, Vaati had just barely been holding his own against Letti, and he had finally resorted to using his most powerful beam attack. The vicious ray had connected with the grinning girl, as well as hit the wall behind her. Skull Kid felt his head forced downwards by Zelda as she tried to protect him from the falling rubble that rained down from the quake.

Their surroundings were strangely quiet compared to the continuous sound of explosions and bombardment from earlier. Vaati stood panting with his arms tense and claw like, and he squinted at the space where Letti had been floating. Skull Kid shook a piece of concrete off of his head and slowly looked around for Letti. She was nowhere to be found.

The boy stared blankly until he began to feel moisture collecting on his eyes. Heads turned when he let out a tormented howl, and he buried his face into the depths of his sleeves so no one could see him cry. Damn it, he never cried! He bit his lip, hard, trying to keep the sobs down.

Noticing how upset Skull Kid was becoming, Zelda's face creased with worry. One of her hands relaxed a little, and she tried to comfort him. She wasn't expecting him to recover so quickly.

"Ah! Skull Kid wait!" Zelda cried when the boy wrenched her arms away from him with strength he didn't have earlier. His eyes were tinted slightly red and they were on their way to becoming puffy from the tears, but his general expression was one of vengeful fury. Both fists clenched and held stiff by his sides, he confronted Vaati with a voice full of hate.

"I HATE YOU!" He screamed. "You ruined everything! I wish you would just _die!_"

Vaati's eyes moved towards the boy with indifference. He watched calmly as Skull Kid charged, howling in rage. The boy was halfway towards the sorcerer when Vaati's eyes suddenly narrowed and his face contorted into a snarl.

"Move!"

Vaati roughly shoved Skull Kid, knocking him back several feet away. An inferno swept past and a fit of giggles from the corner of the room signaled Letti's return. It looked like Vaati's previous attack had caused some damage, but most of it was insignificant and she seemed perfectly fine. "Ahaha! Careful now, you don't want to bury your friends with a reckless attack like that," she laughed.

The wind mage let out a hiss of breath, scowling at the fact that she didn't seem hurt in the least, even with a direct hit of his most powerful spell. He noticed Skull Kid yelling at him from the floor where he had been knocked downwards earlier. Irritation getting the better of him, the sorcerer snapped. "Don't get in my way, brat."

Furious, Skull Kid dug his heel into the ground and pounced on Vaati. In his surprise more than anything, the sorcerer fell onto his back and unleashed a string of curses while he tried to knock his attacker off of him. Letti watched the commotion with mild interest, and something about her changed as she regarded the struggle between Skull Kid and Vaati. The little girl's face had darkened momentarily as she brought up a hand, and Zelda called out in warning.

"Watch out!"

White flames in the shape of a phoenix dove towards them from the tips of Letti's fingers. In a split second, the two were engulfed by the powerful blast and it was impossible to even see their silhouette. Zelda cautiously looked towards the place where Vaati and Skull Kid had been, feeling fearful of their safety. She had felt the heat from where she had been standing.

Letti smirked when the smoke cleared. "What are you doing, Vaati?"

The sorcerer was standing in front of a startled Skull Kid, and though he had managed to shield himself from some of the attack, he had taken a good amount of damage. His hands, now raw red from his injuries, gripped the collar of his sweatshirt and ripped it off. The tattered, singed cloth came off easily since it had become so damaged. He didn't answer the deity and stood with a slouch, breathing heavily.

Skull Kid blinked, sitting behind him with a baffled look on his face. The boy hadn't sustained any damages from the attack thanks to Vaati, and the most he had was a smudge of ash around his cheeks. Open mouthed and speechless, he stared at the wind mage.

"Saving others, little evil wind mage? Are you going soft on me?" Letti taunted. Upon seeing rage flicker across the sorcerer's face, she laughed gleefully. Her laughter was interrupted by Skull Kid's voice from behind the pale teen.

"Letti…" he walked into view. His voice was uncertain and scared. "Letti… you attacked me." The boy trailed off, asking for an explanation so he could understand why. At the moment, however, he could think of no good reason why his friend would attack him. That's not what friends did, right?

The girl crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her chin disdainfully. "I did," she stated plainly.

"But… why? I thought we were friends."

Letti snorted, and Skull Kid cringed from the pain of her words. It hurt. "And I thought you were important. Apparently not, seeing how the sorcerer treated you with no respect." Every word that came out of her mouth cut deeper into his insecurities until he was huddled into a ball. "I don't need someone like you anymore, and to tell you the truth, I'm the one who's hurt because I'm _so_ disappointed that you're not who I thought you were."

In his shock, Skull Kid didn't realize he'd stopped breathing. He also didn't realize how his nails were digging deeper into his sides as though physical pain would let him be deaf to her words. Memories of the all the times he'd felt betrayed by people he had thought were friends surfaced – the times when the people he had thought he could trust had abandoned him because they thought he was strange; it was so painful. _I can't trust anybody. No one cares. No one wants me. _He squeezed his eyes shut, not seeing Letti's new attack approaching him. _If it's my fate to be alone…_

_I'd rather die. _

Letti's fire engulfed him and he brought his hands up to block out the light. His tears had dried up from the instant heat, and he hung his head to accept his fate. It was then that he noticed a dark shadow casting over him, and Skull Kid slowly looked up to see Vaati holding back the attack for the second time with a barrier. It wasn't strong enough to completely hold the magical fire back, and he could see Vaati's hands were beginning to suffer from severe burns. As though that weren't bad enough, one of his arms was beginning to slump from the continued strain of using magic. The sorcerer was in tatters, yet he had still jumped to save him.

_Why…?_

"Oh wooow, who made _you _into a hero, huh?" Letti stuck her hands on her hips with one eyebrow raised at Vaati's actions. She sneered. "You really did turn into a big softie. Haha! Doesn't that bother you at all? Just look at you – you can't be the most powerful sorcerer in the world at this rate." Letti snickered when Vaati momentarily turned his head towards the ground, upset. "Aww, poor you. All of those years of not being a sorcerer really screwed you over, didn't it? Look how sad you are." To prove her point, she summoned a shimmering mirror and propped it in front of Vaati.

Zelda stood up angrily. "Don't talk about him that way!"

"Quiet."

Zelda flinched at Vaati's command. He had a look of pure, murderous hate towards Letti, and at that moment the person the mirror reflected was someone merciless in their viciousness. Forcing his shaking arm to relax, he took a deep breath and slowly brought it up. Muttering a spell, he shattered the mirror to pieces and the glass tinkled to the floor. "You are right," he began, lowering his arm again. "The old Vaati wouldn't have cared if that brat had been incinerated by you."

At these words, Skull Kid frowned from where he was sitting. The sorcerer continued.

"However, 8,000 years is a long time. If that old Vaati hadn't changed at all after all of those years, it would mean he hadn't grown as a person." He winced slightly from the pain in his arms, but shook the feeling away. "If there is anything I've learned from that idiot Link, it's that fighting selflessly," Vaati glared, "ultimately makes you more powerful than fighting out of greed."

Zelda didn't take her eyes off of Vaati in shock and awe. She'd never really expected anything wise like that come out of the wind mage's snippety mouth. Of course, his words were still laced with his usual, underlying objective for power but it was a step in the right direction. _Vaati… you've changed._

Letti blinked. She giggled, but they were far from amused. Instead, she sounded annoyed by the sorcerer's words. "Pah. Well good for you."

Skull Kid's big golden eyes followed Vaati as he sat frozen speechlessly. There were only a few times in his life where he had felt as touched as he felt now. He had never expected the mean sorcerer of all people to be the one to help him. Then again, he'd also never expected his friend to be the one to attack him. Skull Kid glanced over at Letti and her twisted sneer. Letti hadn't cared whether or not he had gotten hurt or not, and yet Vaati and Zelda had cared.

Maybe, maybe Vaati wasn't the mean bully he had thought he was…

"All right you little twat. If you don't get out of my way I'll have the pleasure of beating you out of here myself."

"Huh?" Skull Kid snapped to attention. Vaati's glowering red eyes met his yellow ones, and he squeaked and hopped over to Zelda. He ran behind the girl and peeked over from behind her; Vaati was still mean.

The sorcerer spat on the floor and sneered, ignoring the fact that his body hurt all over. "Now that the distractions are gone, I'm going to obliterate you."

"Keep dreaming," Letti grinned devilishly.

From a few yards away, Zelda watched the fight recommence. She shook her head; even with Vaati's big words, she could tell that if this kept up, he would die. He was severely outmatched by Letti and the deity was completely playing with him, sending out attacks that were only slightly more powerful than Vaati could handle or attacks that purposely missed. The sorcerer, on the other hand, was struggling to stay alive. If only she could do something…

Zelda took Skull Kid sternly by the shoulders and propped him next to her. "Wait here," she commanded. Skull Kid looked like he wanted to object, but decided against it when he saw how serious Zelda was. He nodded and let the girl inch further away from the fight while looking around the room.

_There has to be something I can do!_ Zelda thought frantically, avoiding the stray shots of magic and the rubble falling from the unstable room. She tried to hurry when she glanced over at the fight and noticed Vaati starting to limp. Letti seemed to have found it funny to shoot off his limbs one at a time with excruciating slowness so it appeared like he had a chance. Vaati was managing to hold back most of the attack, but it was evident that he was losing resolve because it was so obvious how unmatched he was. Granted with godlike powers he may be, he was not even close to the real thing.

_Think!_ Zelda whirled around, trying to focus on the peculiarities of the room. She didn't really know why her gut told her to look around the room, but she'd had a feeling that something was off as soon as she'd stepped inside earlier. Doing her best to ignore the fight behind her, she turned to the machine Dr. Willits had been working on. Compared to everything else, that was the only thing in the room that remained untouched.

Zelda's eyes widened. _That's it! The machine!_

The reason why something had seemed weird about the room was because among all the rubble, the most fragile looking thing remained standing. Its thin pillars could have easily fallen over or broken, yet it remained perfect. Even the electricity was still running along its wires. She looked over at Letti momentarily; the goddess had completely healed from Vaati's previous attacks and she was laughing cheerfully. The answer lay in the machine… Zelda was sure of it. If they wanted to stop Letti, they had to stop the machine.

_Maybe I can wreck it?_ She picked up a broken piece of concrete, and then set it back down when she noticed an eerie shimmer around the machine. Zelda bit her lip. _Of course there'd be a magical guard around it… I won't be able to attack it directly._

If anyone could break the seal, it would be Vaati. Zelda was about to call out to him, but her voice was stopped short by a hideous slamming noise. She flinched when she saw Vaati pressed against the wall by a desk that Letti had set on fire. He was barely safe, and sweat was rolling down his forehead like a river from his effort to keep the flaming furniture from burning and crushing him at the same time. Five seconds later, he had broken the desk to pieces with wind magic but not before he'd fanned the flames with the same spell. In tatters, he listened to Letti snickering about how fighting flames with wind was one of the worst ideas ever. Vaati responded that winds that were powerful enough could snuff out any fire – a comment that was followed by fits of hilarity by the deity.

"Just look at you! You're practically a ragdoll now," Letti cried.

Zelda frowned and looked around the room again urgently. The goddess was right. Vaati didn't have the ability to hold Letti back _and_ take care of the spell around Dr. Willits' machine at the same time. Zelda was about to lose all hope when her eyes landed on a lone computer that still appeared to be working. Its monitor glowed with a dim blue light, and the last person to have used it had been in the middle of typing out an exit program command.

Zelda brightened. It was a glimmer of hope, and it was her turn to help. _That computer HAS to be connected to the machine. If I can just complete the command, then the machine should stop running. _Sticking close to the floor, she crawled her way over to the computer. She didn't even know if anything good would happen by shutting the machine down, but seeing how protected it was, she could safely assume that it was something Letti didn't want anyone to mess with. _I have to get there without attracting Letti's attention. _

She had a feeling that Letti wouldn't let her go easy if she found out what she was attempting to do…

On the way over to the computer she passed Skull Kid who gave her a weird look. She was worried he would draw attention towards them, but it appeared that he was going to follow her previous orders of staying where he was. Breathing a sigh of relief, she made her way closer and closer to the computer.

It was only a few inches away now… All she had to do was complete and execute the command.

Just as her hand reached towards the keyboard and touched its keys, an explosion knocked her backwards. "Aaaah!" She screamed, and then moaned when she hit her head on the floor and momentarily lost her vision. A jolt struck her in the ribs and she cried out when her head was yanked up violently by a fistful of hair. Zelda never knew how scary little girls could be until she saw Letti smiling sweetly at her, still pinning her to the ground with a knee and holding her by her hair.

"Aww, it looks like I broke the box thing you were trying to use. It's called a computer, right? You can always get a new one."

"Ugh…" Zelda squirmed a little until she realized that the more she struggled, the more Letti pressed her weight against her stomach to make it harder for her to breathe. She yelped when her head was wrenched towards the ruined computer.

"See? Completely destroyed. Don't be too sad, okay?" Letti giggled.

Zelda froze and she felt all of her energy leave her. That computer had been their last hope and now it was gone.

The goddess sighed, rolling her eyes like she was berating a troublesome child. It was a strange change in personality considering Letti was extremely childish herself. "Did you really think I, one of the Four Goddesses, wouldn't notice you trying to sneak around?" She tittered. "Don't be silly, mortal."

Zelda closed her eyes, her hand falling limp to her sides when she lost the power to continue fighting. _It's… over. We can't win._

A few yards away, Vaati struggled onto his feet after having been slammed down by Letti before she'd gone to attack Zelda. His breathing was coming out in rattling gasps, and he suspected a few ribs had been broken. The sorcerer then noticed Zelda at the mercy of Letti.

_Why am I so outmatched against her? Is this… what it means to be a god?_

He felt his arm twitch, and looking down he saw it begin to turn a dark, shadowy purple. He had been considering turning into his ultimate form, and several times he had exerted self-control to keep himself from becoming impatient; turning into a demon now would be to risk burying everyone alive beneath the remains of the ruined facility. Seeing how he and Zelda were reaching their limits, perhaps it was time to take the risk. If they were all going to die anyways, it was better to die trying, right?

Just as he was about to reach a convicted decision to transform, a glint of silver caught his eye. It was a twisted steel bar that had snapped so that its end had become pointed like a spike. Vaati paused, and his arm returned to normal.

_No… there may be one more way._

The sorcerer casted a spell and summoned the metal spike towards him. He was really getting the hang of magic now; the spike came to him swiftly and smoothly.

The metal was slightly warm from Letti's fire, and as soon as it was in his hands Vaati made sure the goddess had her attention elsewhere. The wind mage took a deep breath and momentarily closed his eyes to calm his nerves. This was his chance - if this didn't work then he really was going to have to turn into his demon form.

Recalling the sorcery he had used eons ago at the sword fighting tournament that had started it all, Vaati lunged towards Letti with his makeshift weapon. Letti whirled around, sensing the wind magic that ran along the edge of the steel spike.

Four different cries rang out; one horrified, one shocked, one agonized, and one determined. The metal spike protruded from the center of Letti's forehead, directly in the circular spot of her eye-like markings. Vaati's hands were squeezed tightly around the metal and he didn't dare to let go as Letti stared at him with a look of blank surprise. A single line of blood dripped down slowly as it pooled around the spike, and it traveled along her markings like a tear.

"I told you… not… to mess with me," Vaati panted.

No one was prepared for the unsettling response by the goddess. Letti roared in laughter and her stubby little child's hands shot out towards the sorcerer like a snake. Her one hand twisted Vaati's away from the spike that was still in her forehead, and the other clamped around his neck with a grip of iron. "What an effort! I applaud you. I encourage everyone in the world to follow your example." She smirked as she watched the sorcerer struggle powerlessly. "Seriously though, did you actually think you could beat me? You cannot defeat a goddess. You would know that, wouldn't you Vaati, the one who declared that you cannot be defeated because you are a god?"

_Goddesses blast it I can't win!_ Vaati gasped for breath, occasionally glaring at Letti with all the hate he could muster. _And now I can't even change forms with her strangling me! _He scowled when he could feel himself beginning to lose consciousness.

Letti smiled with chilling sweetness, enjoying every moment of holding the proud sorcerer at her mercy. "You're pretty good for a mortal. I'd say you're even more powerful than some of the lesser gods like Zephos." She watched the sorcerer's expression contort into a grimace as she allowed his throat to gradually burn from the heat of her palms. "I have to thank you all for stopping the flood, by the way. If that had happened it would have been such an inconvenience. Also, I want to thank you for providing me with a little entertainment to pass the time." She giggled. "I'm satisfied. I think all of you are spent now, so I'll go and pick up Wisdom and Courage and put an end to playing. Thank you for your time, little mortals! I had fun."

"L-Let him go!"

Skull Kid's voice made Letti stop and look down her nose at him. He froze under her gaze, but regained his courage. "I said let him go," he demanded again with a little more force. He felt nervous from having all eyes on him, and a part of him was wondering what he was doing. Still, what Letti was doing was wrong and he didn't want to stand and watch like Zelda had told him to.

The goddess sniffed. "Why should I do that?"

"Because it's wrong."

"Are you telling me I'm wrong? I'm a goddess. I'm never wrong."

Skull Kid took a deep breath and hung his head. In his hands was the Ocarina of Time, and he let his fingers trace the outline of the Triforce that was carved into its side. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Zelda urgently asking him what he was thinking and that he should stay out of this. He ignored her and continued to look at the Ocarina.

It was so pretty with its deep blue wood. He had been so happy when Letti had first spoken to him after he had randomly spun a tune, and every time he had approached the completion of the Adagio she had become more and more personified. He had thought that she would be someone who he could be friends with since she had been so encouraging. Anger and sadness overwhelmed him; anger that Letti had turned out to be so intolerable, and sadness for what he was about to do.

"This sucks." Skull Kid's brows scrunched together and he glowered at the floor. Putting the Ocarina of Time to his lips, he brought his head up and looked straight at Letti. "Let him go or I'll reverse the Adagio."

Letti frowned disdainfully. "I'm hurt, Skull Kid. I thought we were friends." With a wave of her hand, a scorching lance flew towards the boy. Zelda exclaimed in panic.

"Skull Kid!"

Skull Kid glared at Letti with a hint of hurt. He blew a note into the Ocarina and began to play a song. _I thought so too._ As soon as the first notes left the Ocarina, the lance split in two and swerved on either side of the player. They dimmed, and then they disintegrated into the air.

Letti chuckled half-heartedly and threw Vaati to the side like a broken doll. She paid no attention to the wheezing as the sorcerer gripped his slightly burnt neck and took gulping gasps of air. "I'm sorry, but you can't seal me in that thing again. I'm too powerful, and only my sisters have enough power to be able to use that properly." When Skull Kid continued to play, she finally lost her temper and lashed out with a vicious attack. "I order you to stop!"

White flames surrounded Skull Kid, but as long as the music played they couldn't touch him. Little by little, each plume of fire vanished into the air. The goddess was enraged into a tantrum when bits of her began to fade away. With a look that was outright evil, she ripped out the spike that was stuck on her forehead and lunged at Skull Kid. "I said _stop!"_

A flicker of fear passed over the boy's face when Letti came at him like a wild animal with the metal spike poised over her head. Halfway through, she screeched furiously when she was interrupted by a vortex that slammed and pinned her to the floor. Skull Kid's music faltered momentarily when he stared at the deity thrashing on the floor.

"Hey, brat."

Skull Kid looked up to see Vaati using the last of his energy to hold the goddess down.

"Keep up the good tune."

The boy nodded and picked up where he left off. It was an uncomfortable sight with Letti screaming at them to stop the music, and then eventually becoming reduced to a sorry, sobbing sight as she began to fade away. Several times Skull Kid pitied the goddess and was tempted to stop playing the Reverse Adagio, but then he remembered the sight of her harming everyone around her. She'd gone too far, and she needed to be stopped.

The last note echoed beautifully but was tainted by Letti's last wails. In a tearful voice that was so expertly poignant that there was no doubt it was all faked, she whispered, "I don't understand… it shouldn't have worked. I am the Fourth Goddess…"

Zelda slowly picked up her head. Sighing, she said with a tone of sadness, "Gods and goddesses die all the time. When people cease to believe in them, they disappear into nothingness and lose all of their influence. Belief is a powerful thing." She paused and watched as Letti was reduced to a small fire fairy she had first seen back in New Jersey. "When Skull Kid stopped believing in you, you lost your power, Letti."

The tiny ball of light wavered in the air. Though it had no face, they could hear a slight tone of regret. "… I see. I guess you were… important after all, Skull Kid."

Finally disappearing into the air, everyone took in the quiet calm that settled around them. Vaati, however, didn't give himself time to relax and prepared one last spell. He grit his teeth. "We're not done yet. We have to get Link and Dark." He vanished in a flash. "I'll be back."

Now it was only Zelda and Skull Kid who were left in the broken facility. It was quiet again, and Zelda finally allowed herself to breathe at ease. After a few moments, her ears picked up a faint sniffling noise that was trying its hardest to remain unnoticed. She looked over at Skull Kid and noticed the boy huddled over the Ocarina of Time in his hands, his shoulders trembling from the strain of keeping a poker face. Picking herself up, Zelda limped over to Skull Kid. He jumped when she put a hand on his arm.

"Hey…"

Skull Kid quickly jerked away and hid his face under his baseball cap. "Leave me alone." It was too late, however; she could already tell he had been crying.

"I'm sorry about," she shook her head, "everything."

The boy only nodded. He didn't dare speak because he could tell that he would break down at any moment.

Zelda considered Skull Kid for some time. Then, she smiled kindly. "It's okay to cry." She laughed quietly to herself when she could feel her own tears start to form. "See? Even I'm crying haha. I don't even know why…"

Eyes widening, Skull Kid snapped his head to look at Zelda. Seeing what Zelda had said was true, he finally let go and allowed the tears to flow freely. Bawling, he jumped into her arms and hugged her tightly.

XXXXXXXXXXX

The gigantic bird suddenly unleashed a shrill scream, making Link and Dark uneasy. They were both badly burned and in tatters from having gone through numerous 'games' Avilux Ignis had thrown at them. Fighting to stay upright, Dark swayed weakly and gave a pessimistic laugh.

"I think that bloody sorcerer finally did it. Look at how upset it is."

Link smiled, equally grim. "I suppose that means it's not going to play around with us anymore."

On cue, Avilux Ignis brought its wings closer to its body and its core began to glow a painfully bright white. The temperature began to increase at an alarming rate, and Dark dropped his sword when it became too hot to hold. It howled with its neutral voice. "You will regret this!"

As the bird threatened to take them down with it, Link and Dark felt their collar yanked gruffly from behind. A disgruntled voice complained with a hiss of air. "It is so freaking hot – we're getting out of here."

Angry protests from the disappearing projection rang in their ears as they were teleported to safety.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Five figures lay sprawled in the middle of a grassy clearing that was strangely devoid of snow. Icy water dripped steadily from the trees around them, creating a peaceful tune. The cool water that had collected on the grass felt heavenly refreshing against everyone's various burns.

Link groaned as he gradually regained consciousness. His hands moved along the grass and he enjoyed every minute of the cooling sensation. His whole body still felt hot, and he could see to his dismay that blisters were already beginning to form on his palms. However, he welcomed the pain – at least it meant he was alive.

Closing his fist around a clump of grass, he pulled himself up onto his knees and slowly propped himself straight. Dark was already sitting up next to him, Zelda was curled on her side next to Dark, and Skull Kid was flat on his stomach with his face buried in his arms next to Zelda. On the other side of Link, Vaati was sprawled on the ground in complete tatters with a face of extreme unhappiness and irritation.

Only Vaati's red eyes moved to glare at Link in the way Gale would have done. "What's so funny?"

"We're alive. I'm happy," Link explained. He hadn't felt so relieved in a long time, and now that all the tension was gone he had smiled involuntarily.

Vaati huffed, and he glowered at the sky. The moisture on the ground was soaking what was left of his purple t-shirt, and his skin was becoming discolored by the burns and bruises from the fight. He was misery itself. "Well I feel terrible. I'm unhappy."

Just then, a few specks of white flickered in the air and floated down around the broken little group. They hovered down and flitted around them where the wind took them. A cool gust blew the tiny white specks like glitter and surrounded the injured teens before they disappeared.

"This is…" Zelda gasped after the mysterious white things had dissipated. He brought her hands to her face and turned them over again and again, not trusting her eyes to see what they were seeing.

"We're – "

"completely - "

"healed." Vaati, Link, and Dark gawked at themselves. All of their burns and bruises had disappeared after the white specks had passed. Another cold gust blew past and this time it brought along a flurry of snow. Zelda was looking at the passing snowflakes in wonder when she felt a shy poke on her side. It was Skull Kid.

"Those were fairies," he said solemnly.

There was a moment of silence from the group and they all exchanged glances. Vaati was the first to laugh.

"Fairies? You must be jesting. That was only the snow falling."

Skull Kid frowned. "But – "

Vaati stood up and waved him away. "I've had enough fantastical things for a long time. I'm sick of this place. Let's go home." Brushing himself off and holding out his hands to feel the snow land gently on his palms, Vaati stretched and looked up at the sky. Link, Dark, and Zelda followed suit.

Skull Kid was the last to stand up. Sticking close to Zelda, he looked out over to the forest where he was sure the fairies had gone and then at the Ocarina of Time in his hands. Vaati was right; he was ready to put all of these adventures behind. For the first time since they had escaped the ruined facility, Skull Kid cracked his mischievous little grin.

"Yeah, let's go home."

* * *

fleets: This chapter was a monster to write. You have no idea how happy I am to have finished this, since I thought I would never finish. Well, there are at least 2 more chapters until I take my leave and say adieu to this story. You can count on a possible 3rd chapter where I include a sneak peek on what I may tackle next.

Also, disclaimer: This chapter had influences from the all mighty Terry Pratchett (i.e. the philosophy on the death of gods) and general adventure manga (i.e. One Piece lol - helped me imagine the boss fight)

**Midna Hytwilian:** I don't know if Zelda would have been okay with that especially with Skull Kid there...  
lol her little brother is bigger than her

**Shadow R-B: **The bullet's not there, but the potion wasn't potent enough to completely heal his wounds. They would have been completely dead if it weren't for Skull Kid ;)**  
**

**i-wish-799: **She's a goddess for a reason - I'm not going to give them an easy time defeating her haha. Surprisingly enough, I didn't kill off any characters who were fighting her like in my other stories (where at least one character died from the last fight)**  
**

**Purplegc: **Hope you liked it! You're right... I'm not going to be a free person until I run out of ideas to write (cries)**  
**

**Reily96: **Poe! Haha, he puts his deadness to good use. No word on Dugal yet. I can say his fate will be mentioned in the next chapter... D:  
For the sake of the world, I seriously hope TS and Letti never get in a fight. Let alone meet. **  
**

**Ephriokko: **That's cause Vaati's no longer Vaati, but Vaati + Gale :D He's a very different Vaati from the one I wrote about in BC. And dang, I feel kinda guilty for making Skull Kid go through all of that crap (hugs him). **  
**

**xBlackDragoonx: **Letti was defeated! Whew, just barely though...**  
**

**LinkxDark Link: **She was really starting to scare me in this chapter. I have no idea how she turned into this little devil. Haha, if only Vaati could've cheated - it would've been a less painful experience for everyone.**  
**

**Sapphiet: **I am contemplating whether or not Letti or Dethl is more evil. At least Dethl is openly evil... but for some reason I can tolerate Letti more than that nightmare bugger. **  
**

**SubZeroChimera: **I can totally see FD kicking Letti's butt. She's jealous XD**  
**

**LunaticEyesInaba: **There definitely was an Edward Elric influence - I loved FA. **  
**

**Thaine: **This story is definitely different from my other ones. Ahhh I really wish I could find an emulator that worked with my stupid Mac :(**  
**

**msfcatlover: **Huh, I never heard of peril beam before (I also don't know much about Dark, actually). I like that name though :) Hmmm, it's also possible I had the potion colors mixed up. **  
**


	28. The Life of Vaati Engst

fleets: huh, so Starcraft II didn't take up as much time as I thought it would. Weird O.o;

* * *

**Chapter 27: The Life of Vaati Engst**

The snow fell steadily, accentuating the lonely atmosphere that suddenly befell them. It came with soft quiescence, pulling a curtain over the air. The temperature was becoming noticeably nippy, and Vaati rubbed his bare arms that were beginning to feel chilled. No one said anything for some time – after everything that had happened, it was strange to have nothing more to go after. More importantly, each one could feel that they were on the brink of losing the connection that had been forged between them through chance circumstance.

"Skull Kid." Link broke the silence with an uncomfortable cough. The little troublemaker looked up from behind Zelda's arm he was holding onto with one hand. Skull Kid glanced at the Ocarina of Time in his hands, and then sheepishly passed it back to Link.

Skull Kid muttered without meeting the blond teen's eyes. "I told you I'll give it back after I played one song."

Link laughed despite himself with a sad sort of laughter. "Hahaha, and that was one hell of a song you played."

"You're not mad at me?" Skull Kid asked, still not able to look at Link.

The Hero of Time shook his head. "No." He turned to Vaati, Zelda, and Dark. "It was… exciting. I would never have met these guys if it weren't for you."

Another awkward quiet settled with no one wanting to bring up the fact that their adventure was over. It was time to say goodbye.

"You have to go now?" Zelda whispered. She couldn't really describe her mixed emotions of feeling elated that it was over but sad that… that…

She was surprised by Link pulling her closely into an embrace. "I have someone waiting for me," Link murmured. Zelda closed her eyes as she hugged him back.

_That's right… the other me is waiting for him. Is that why I feel sad yet happy?_ She let him go slowly and then knelt beside Skull Kid while Dark stepped forward.

The darker Link scratched his head. "Well, I only got to know you for a brief while." He brushed the snow that had landed on his nose. Dark's expression turned serious and he seemed to be having trouble finding the right words to say. Finally, he rubbed his nose again but this time it wasn't because of the snow. "I'm going to be a better Link than you." Dark turned away. "You better not slack!"

Link allowed himself to smile. "You too…"

Behind Dark, a certain sorcerer was fidgeting with a scowl on his face. It wasn't a surprise to see a scowl since he was almost always seen with one around Link, but this time it was a slightly different sort of scowl. It could have been from the discomfort of letting his "enemy for life" get away from his sight. It could have been from how little regard he had for the entire somber mood of the others. Or probably the most likely reason; it could have been because, after all of this time of keeping up with the act of hating Link, it was too weird to show anything else.

Link looked up towards Vaati when he heard him huff with a scorn. With his arms crossed over his chest and his red eyes looking down his nose and past his bangs, Vaati reminded Link of the way Gale looked at him when he first talked to him on the streets of Ariko, New Jersey.

"Hmph. You remember what the deal was, right?" Vaati's voice was gruff. "I follow you on this trip and I'll never have to see you ever again."

Link watched Vaati with mild curiosity. How silly of him to have once worried that he was unleashing a terrible demon when he revived Vaati's memories. Granted he became slightly more caustic, Vaati was still human and he wasn't too different from Gale. "That's right."

Vaati paused. Then, he waved him away with a bored air. "Well that's good. What are you waiting for? Don't make me blast you out of here."

"All right, all right," Link laughed. He brought the Ocarina of Time to his lips. He took a deep breath and his toes twisted the dirt on the ground. "Goodbye everyone. I'm sorry about the troubles we've caused."

"Bye!" Skull Kid waved, jumping towards Link and grabbing his sleeve.

On cue, Link began to play the Song of Time that was to take him and Skull Kid back to the time they belonged in. It was a forlorn tune that matched the grey sky of the snow clouds. As the curious time travelers began to disappear, Vaati squeezed his hands together and took a moment to think if he could attempt magic. Finally making up his mind, he swept his arms across and a breeze started up, swirling the falling snow. As Vaati, Zelda, and Dark began to vanish in the snow with the sorcerer's warping spell, the wind mage gave one small nod of respect. Link barely caught it between the flurry of snow, but when he did catch it he wondered if he'd imagined it.

It was too late to wonder, because by then the entire group that had gathered in the clearing had faded away. The only hint of anyone ever being there were the footprints left in the snow covered mud.

XXXXXXXXXX

Link's eyelids fluttered open to the sound of a flute. If he'd woken up to something beautiful he wouldn't have been as irritated as he was now. Link could gather that the flutist was purposely putting together an unpleasant cacophony. Grumbling, he rolled over on his side and shook his head to get rid of the leaves that had sneaked their way between his hair. His head felt fuzzy from travelling through time so he was especially unappreciative of the jarring dissonance.

Link groaned and sat up. He noticed that he was no longer wearing his modern clothes but his old green tunic. Next to him, he noticed Skull Kid playing notes on his flute gloomily; it was a change from the spark of cheerfulness he had left the others before they had returned to the past. "Hey Skull Kid."

The imp's straw hat rustled when he shifted his weight. Bright golden orbs swiveled over to Link from under the hat. He paused, and then blew a note loudly making Link flinch momentarily.

Link tried to put a comforting hand on Skull Kid's shoulder. "Cheer up."

Skull Kid hesitated, and then gave him an overly happy smile. "I'm not sad!" He laughed, and then turned away and gazed deeper into the Lost Woods.

It was an act of fake happiness of course, and Link could see right through it. Link sighed. _I hope Zelda won't hate me for this. _"You can come play in the castle whenever you want." Skull Kid smiled for a second, but then resumed looking away with a faraway expression. Noticing this, Link added, "I'll also visit the Lost Woods when I can."

Skull Kid fiddled around with the flute in his hands. With a small voice he mumbled with his face still towards the trees. "Really?" he asked almost inaudibly.

Link nodded. "I'll be your friend."

The blond was a little unnerved when Skull Kid's head shot around and stared at him with his glinting eerie eyes. Then, he yelped when he was knocked backwards from the force of an unruly little imp jumping to hug him. Then, as soon as his back hit the leaves on the ground he felt Skull Kid's weight leave him. There was a rustle from somewhere up above and he heard Skull Kid's giggles. It was a little different from the other times he'd heard Skull Kid laugh – this time, it seemed there was less strain to the giggles and they were more genuine.

"Ahaha! Sorry about the adventure!" He snickered off, leaving Link with a faint reminiscing tune of Saria's Song that eventually died away.

The blond brushed himself off as he stood up to his feet. He took a moment to let his ears get used to the stifling quiet that was characteristic of the Lost Woods. If he strained his ears hard enough he thought he could catch pieces of Skull Kid's flute; then again, it could have been his imagination.

Link allowed himself to take a well earned stretch and began his final walk to return home. He walked for roughly an hour before his surroundings became lighter from the decreasing density of the trees. A breeze picked up the closer he came to the edge of the forest, and Link picked up his pace. By the time he was out of the woods he was running in a sprint.

He slowed for a moment and took in the view of the landscape; his landscape. There were no weird planes flying in the sky, no cars roaring by with their loud engines, and no steel colored buildings that were taller than castles. The season was early fall instead of winter, and snow hadn't touched the ground yet. He was truly home.

A whinny called him from somewhere in the distance and Link was overjoyed to see a chestnut mare trotting over eagerly. "Epona!" he exclaimed. Laughing freely for the first time in a long while, Link pat his horse on the neck while the animal nuzzled him affectionately. Hoisting himself onto the saddle, he took one last look at the Lost Woods. It was a surprisingly familiar view.

"Ready to go back Epona?"

Epona gave a shrill whinny and she shot forward in a gallop. For the mare, Link had been gone no longer than a few hours: still, she felt as though he had been gone for more than a few months.

XXXXXXXXXX

_Rrriiinng!_

"Class dismissed! I will hand back your draft on Wednesday and the final paper will be due next week. In the meanwhile, be prepared to discuss pages 220 to 235 from the book. Oh and, I would like to see Opal _again_ please."

Yawning, Opal accidentally hit a few students while she stretched and her charcoal dyed hair bobbed towards Mrs. Hemmer's desk with a routine air. Just like any other day, she smiled and nodded as though she were paying attention and counted the seconds on the clock to see how quickly the teacher would let her go today. Yes, school was back in session after winter break and nothing had changed one… bit?

Suddenly alert, she whirled around in confusion while ignoring Mrs. Hemmer who had begun lecturing her on her work habits. Why was she alone today?

"Opal! Listen when I'm talking to you or I'm going to send you to detention!" the English teacher roared.

Not noticing how her teacher was beginning to look at her with a near demonic aura, Opal stammered at the sight of Gale leaving the classroom while speaking to Link; or rather, "Vaati" and "Dark" they now preferred to be called. "Um, what about Ga – I mean Vaati?"

Mrs. Hemmer tapped the tip of her pencil against her desk impatiently. "I have no reason to call him up today as he happened to submit one of the best drafts in the class."

The girl stared at the silver-haired teen stride outside. "Huh?" She had never seen this one coming. Although she had noticed Gale and Link had changed considerably after they had returned from break (especially Link, who had changed his hair from blond to jet-black and had a silver piercing on his eyebrow), she would never have expected either of them to change into better students. Worse students, maybe, but better? This was too weird.

"Now I suggest you start worrying about your other peers less and start worrying about yourself more. Perhaps you should follow Mr. Engst's example and straighten yourself out."

It took a moment for Opal to snap out of it. After a few minutes, she nodded in a daze. "Yes ma'am."

Outside the classroom, Vaati and Dark moved slowly to their next class. "So, how are you adjusting to taking Link's place?" Vaati asked. After their adventure had concluded, Dark had agreed to pretend to be Link so that there wouldn't be any complications involving Grandpa Loze and the school. Moving out hadn't been too much of a problem since Dark didn't have any relatives or friends in Japan who would become worried if he suddenly moved overseas.

Dark shrugged. "It's not too hard. He was a little too 'good' for my attitude it seems." He swept past a group of girls who had stopped to gossip in the middle of the hallway. "Everyone's shocked about my new looks – then again, the reaction's not too different from what I experienced back in Japan when I quit being the Gold Wolf."

"Mm," Vaati murmured, half attentive. He remembered the yelling Dark had suffered when Gramps had seen him with piercings. He also remembered the yelling _he_ had gone through since Gramps had thought he had been responsible for turning Dark into a punk.

Just outside their next classroom, Dark sighed and shifted his backpack. "Still, I gather people are more shocked about your new work ethics Vaati. What's that all about?"

"Mm?" Vaati threw his backpack all the way across the room towards the desk in the corner. A few students ducked their heads to avoid the flying backpack and frowned unappreciatively at the behavior, while a few awed at how perfectly it landed next to the seat. No one was aware that some magic had been involved. "Oh… I just felt like I want to go to college now."

"Huh. Why now?"

Vaati made his way over to his seat and Dark followed. He waved his hand. "Well you know… a degree gives you an edge."

Dark grinned. "Want to be the best in this world too, hmm?"

Vaati chuckled, and a few heads turned as they wondered what the two in the corner were laughing about. "Heh, something like that."

"Gale and Link, class is starting," the teacher called while picking up a marker for the white board. Dark rolled his eyes in mild irritation from hearing his alternate name; not everyone was used to their name change yet.

Vaati smirked, biting the edge of his pen. "All right." When he was Gale, he hadn't been able to get up the effort to be ambitious about anything. Now, however, he actually wanted to do something for himself. He was going to start up a storm.

XXXXXXXXXX

It was a week since Link had returned home, and he found it slightly unnerving that no one was aware that he had been gone. It was expected, of course, since that was the nature of time travel: even though he had spent several months in the future to sort out all of the problems, he had returned to the same exact time in the past. No one knew of his adventures, and besides Zelda he doubted anyone would believe him.

It was kind of annoying how no one recognized how he had helped avert disaster once again, but it couldn't be helped since everything had happened in the future. At least Skull Kid knew; occasionally Link would visit him so as to remind himself that he hadn't imagined the whole thing. Before the whole Avilux business, Link would never have dreamed that Skull Kid would be someone to keep him sane.

He was about to visit him today, and Epona kept a good pace towards the Lost Woods. He also felt obliged to keep his promise to visit, and it was nice to see how a simple hello made the lonely creature incredibly happy.

Link became lost in thought as he appreciated the view. When no monsters were prowling about, Hyrule field was such a tranquil place…

"AHHH! Hey, watch it!"

A string of curses hollered loudly from somewhere in front of Epona, and the mare gave a troubled whinny as she reared in response to the noise. _So much for tranquil._ "Whoa, steady!" Link pulled the reigns hard to his left as he was pulled out of his reverie. He frowned when the nasty curses continued even after the horse had calmed down, and he craned his neck to see whom he had offended.

"A Royal Guard of the castle, huh? Well just because you work for the princess don't think you're so high and mighty." The owner of the voice paused a moment to spit on the ground by Link. "Dirt toilers like us are so insignificant you think you can just run us over, do you?"

"Er…" Link was at a loss of words under this onslaught of insults and accusations. "Sorry about… almost running you over," he finally managed between the continuing string of acerbic words. From the looks of it, the person was a peasant.

"Oh just look at you, gaping at me like I need sympathy. Are you going to throw a few rupees at me because you feel sorry for me? Pah!" The owner of the voice crawled onto his feet and brushed away the dirt from where he had fallen. Even though his clothes were the simple brown leather tunics that most peasants wore around these parts, the teen that Link had nearly run over wore them proudly. He made sure every piece of dirt was gone as he continued to rant. "Even the act of giving us rupees is a selfish act. You only do it because it makes you feel better about yourselves for doing a 'good deed.'"

"What a twisted outlook you have on the world." Though Link was taken aback by the peasant boy's attitude, he recognized it was stemming from the teen's own lack of self-esteem for being a peasant. He wanted something more, but his own life circumstances prevented him from progressing. Link could see it in his demeanor: this peasant boy wanted to be great.

"But it's true. I don't believe there is such a thing as true benevolence. There's always another motive that's based on selfishness." The peasant boy crossed his arms and huffed indignantly. "I'll tell you up front I don't need your pity, knight. Don't you dare insult me by thinking I need you to feel sorry for me. I am the last person in the world who needs someone like _you_ to pity me."

Blinking, Link regarded the peasant for some time. Taking a better look at him, he realized that the haughty teen was nostalgically familiar. He got on his nerves in a way only a certain sorcerer had, and he took a good look at the peasant boy. He had silver hair that was grown out past his shoulders and his pale complexion was unusual for someone who worked outside in the fields. More striking were his eyes; they were familiar crimson eyes that glowed with a determined flame. Even though Link knew he would risk offending the peasant boy, he couldn't help but smile a little.

"What are you laughing at?" The Vaati lookalike scowled, mistaking Link's smile for ridicule.

"Oh, you reminded me of someone I once traveled with," Link replied, remembering the first time he'd run into Gale. Considering how the Sorcerer of Winds had cursed himself to be reincarnated again and again with no memories of the past, it shouldn't have been so surprising to meet one of his reincarnations in this age. The blond chuckled, thinking how upset Vaati would be if he knew he had once been a peasant working in the outskirts of Hyrule Field. "What's your name? I'm Link."

The peasant hesitated and gave Link a scrutinizing gaze. After a few seconds, he determined his name was something he could offer. "Vasheel Gallows."

Link frowned momentarily. "Gallows? What a morbid name…"

"No one asked for your opinion, you sycophant!"

The blond was slightly surprised by the vocabulary the peasant knew, but this was Vaati after all; whatever situation he found himself in, he probably had a natural interest in scholarly topics. He couldn't really feel offended. Instead, he apologized and looked off towards the castle. "Sorry. Say, if you ever want to use any of the castle resources like the library, feel free to drop by any time."

Vasheel's proud composure dropped for a second by this offer. It was too nice of the knight after everything that had come out of his mouth, and it was a blasted good offer. Then, his face contorted into a snarl. "Are you mocking me?" he hissed.

Link laughed. "No, no, I'm serious!" He extended a warm hand. "All right, I have to get going. It was nice meeting you Vaat… er… Vasheel."

Vasheel hesitated again in his surprise by the Royal Knight's behavior. He could only think that the knight was making fun of him, but that also didn't seem to be the case. He really loathed the Royal Knights because he always imagined them to be so full of themselves and thought they were pathetic for listening to the Princess like lost puppies. Conflict bloomed on his pale face. Then, he resumed his determined scowl and slapped Link's hand away. "I don't need any favors from you."

With that, Vasheel ran off in the other direction towards a picturesque cottage blowing smoke rings. Link watched the cursed sorcerer disappear into a dot. He smiled and then ushered Epona into a trot towards the Lost Woods. _Good luck until you regain your memories, Vaati._

XXXXXXXXXXX

Zelda applied pressure on the pedal and her car accelerated slowly when the traffic light turned green. It was now almost exactly a year after the events with Avilux Ignis had concluded, and she was still feeling a little tired from its aftereffects. She hadn't been able to rest even when she had gone back home; she had had a lot of explaining to do regarding Skull Kid's disappearance and her 'canceled' collaboration plans with Dr. Willits. Because of all the turmoil that was going on, she hadn't been able to tell her lab that she was going to quit researching zerons. She didn't want to think about the explaining she was going to have to do when she told everyone _that_ piece of news.

She was going to change her major. Maybe International Relations? Her father always told her she had a knack for those kinds of things. It was disappointing she was going to throw away all the time she had spent on her work, but she knew now that no one would be able to make sense of magic. Magic was magic for a reason, and pursuing research on zerons would lead her to a dead end.

Zelda shook her head and gripped the steering wheel tightly. This wasn't the time to be worrying about something like that right now. Something more troubling had come up earlier in the week, and she hated how uneasy she was feeling. Though Letti had been defeated and Avilux I had been disbanded, not everything was over.

Zelda took a deep breath when she pulled up in the parking lot of the community park. It was a Thursday afternoon and a snowball fight was starting in the baseball field. She tensed when she saw a familiar silver Mercedes-Benz in one of the lots.

_Halstead Dugal: so you really were alive._

Three days ago, she had been jarred by a phone call by a prim secretary voice that had requested for her to go to the park to meet the Talon leader.

"_Is Miss Zelda Sterling available?"_

"_Yes this is she. Who is this?"_

"_Ah, I have a message from Mr. Dugal. He has something he would like to discuss with you and your friends, Mr. Engst and Mr. Petrov. They have already agreed to go and he is awaiting your reply."_

"_D-Dugal? Did you just say Dugal?"_

"_Will you comply?"_

"…"

"…_Miss? Are you still there?"_

"_Ah, y-yes. Yes. Uhm… did he say what he wanted to talk about?"_

"_I'm sorry, he explained it was strictly personal business."_

"…_Alright. If Vaati and Dark agreed then I'll go as well."_

"_Mr. Dugal would like to meet you at Pinegrove Park at three o'clock on Thursday. Please make sure you have no scheduled plans at that time. Thank you, and have a nice day."_

Zelda stepped outside of her car and carefully closed the door behind her. She couldn't fathom how that man had managed to survive or what he wanted to talk to them about, and a part of her was shouting that this was a trap. It had been a year since Avilux I had fallen – why did he want to talk to them all of a sudden?

The snow crunched beneath her boots and she brightened a little bit when she noticed two familiar figures sitting in one of the benches next to the sidewalk by the frozen lake. Vaati and Dark waved when they saw her, and she could tell that both of them were befuddled by the recent developments.

"Dugal called you here too?" Vaati muttered.

Zelda nodded. "Yes. It's been a while, you two. How've you been?"

Dark sighed while Vaati grumbled inaudibly next to him. "Okay I guess. I gotta say neither of us were expecting to hear back from Dugal though."

"Same."

Vaati picked his head up slightly when he noticed someone approaching them. "Din, he's really here." He stood up and brushed off some snow. Dark stood up as well, and the three teens turned to face the man that had strode over to them. His deceivingly cheerful voice was something they had learned to associate with misfortune since they had first met him.

"Excellent! I was slightly worried none of you would want to talk to me; and with good reason, too, considering everything we'd gone through." Using one hand, he wiped the snow that had landed on his glasses. His black suit was considerably white around the shoulders from the snow and he kept half of his grin hidden behind a maroon scarf. "I apologize if I kept you waiting. I had to make sure we wouldn't be bothered by ah, authorities… here."

"Enough with the formalities. What are you up to?" Vaati growled, still suspicious of the man who had once been hired to kill them.

Dugal laughed. "Oh, no need to get so defensive Mr. Engst. Talon Three has disbanded, and my assignment by Avilux I to get rid of you troublemakers is moot. I truly only wanted to have a little chat about what had happened in Japan."

"Talon Three disbanded?" Dark asked, his voice full of skepticism. The others echoed his disbelief.

For a brief moment, Dugal's composure broke and his smile cracked. He covered his mouth with his fist as he coughed, and his eyes wandered uncharacteristically. "Yes. Disbanded. After all," he finally brought out his right hand he had had propped behind his back all this time. Unlike his left, which was tinged red from the cold, his right hand was covered with a black glove. It moved awkwardly, and the three teens watched with a puzzled expression as he rolled his fingers slowly. "After all, an injured leader is a dead leader in my line of work."

Dugal's cheery smile returned as he waved his right arm in a circle. "Amazing what the newest technology in prosthetics can accomplish, no? It's all machinery from below the elbows. Hawk and Kestrel were kind enough to get a hold of the prototype of this arm from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. It's a goodbye gift before we scattered." His blatant omission of Condor made the teens wonder if something had happened between them. Dugal turned his head to the sky a little wistfully. "Of course I am no longer as powerful as I used to be. If it had been my left arm it wouldn't have been so bad, but since it had been my right I have lost my aim. This is the end of my reign…"

The three teens took a moment to gawk at the prosthetic limb. After a while, Dark muttered "Serves you right," under his breath. More audibly he asked, "How did that happen?"

"Surely you can expect how difficult it was to escape that falling plane without injury."

Vaati kept his narrowed eyes straight on Dugal. "I was meaning to ask you that earlier; how did you survive? From what I remember, there's no way you should have gotten out of that alive."

The man returned his gaze coolly. "Then you were wrong, Mr. Engst." He left it at that, making it obvious that he didn't plan on divulging anything more on how he had miraculously survived crashing into a forest from several kilometers up in the air. He waved them away with his biomechanical arm and they could hear the gears whirr softly as it moved. "Enough about me. I told you earlier I wanted to know more about what had transpired a year ago. Please give me the full details, and then I will let you leave."

The three exchanged glances. Who was he to demand them they tell him everything? Upon seeing the hesitation and reluctance from the group, Dugal sighed impatiently. "I will give each of you a present of a thousand dollars for the full story. Mr. Engst, I believe I also owe you a new longboard for the one I broke?"

"I'm no longer interested in boarding," Vaati replied flatly. However, while it was true that having magic had made him less interested in boarding activities since everything became too easy, his lack of interest in boarding wasn't the reason why he refused Dugal's offer. No one trusted the man at all, and none of them wanted to have anything to do with him. "In fact, I don't think any of us are interested in whatever it is you have to offer."

When Dark and Zelda nodded in agreement, Dugal shook his head in disappointment. "Pity. And here I was being nice by keeping the government off of your tails. Did you ever wonder why, in the course of a whole year, Homeland Security never bothered you about the mysterious explosion over the Avilux I research facility? If you've followed the news you should know about the fire the United States is under because of it, as well as all of the political turmoil that has begun from the prospect of an unknown devastating weapon."

A fleeting look of panic passed over Zelda's face. Her brows scrunched together in her attempt to deny what she had just heard. "Homeland Security? But all of that happened in Japan… why would the US be involved?"

"You ought to read the papers," he said with a condescending air. "The gist is that everyone is pointing fingers at each other on who was responsible for the fireball that appeared over Mt. Fuji, and the story has become excellent fodder for stirring up panic. Countries are having a field day in accusing each other for experimenting with what appeared to be 'a super-weapon,' and they're using that to push their own research in 'increasing military defense.' Everybody is involved, and if you relax for even one minute then all eyes would go towards the last surviving members of the ones who had been at the destroyed facility. Namely you three, as well as myself and my former cohorts."

He adjusted his glasses and then peered at them with a sly smile. "You would be naïve to think it was easy to divert the attention away from you kids, especially now that the government has become interested in the affair. If you don't give me what I want, then you had best be prepared to answer the government when they come knocking on your door."

There was a long silence that fell between the three as Dugal watched them triumphantly. It was annoying how little power they had about their situation. Vaati frowned, not liking anything he had heard so far. "I don't understand why you want to know the story so badly."

Dugal shrugged. "I was just curious to know, but I also realized you probably wouldn't tell me anything unless I had some leverage over you." He laughed. "I wouldn't have had to scare you with that if you hadn't been so reluctant to tell me the story."

Dark also sounded unconvinced. "Sooo you really don't have any ulterior motives?"

"What does it matter? Either you tell me or you don't." The man's voice suddenly became snappish, probably from reaching the end of his patience. He flicked a snowflake off of his suit with a look of disdain. "Now before you give me an answer, I will remind you that if you refuse, I will direct the investigators towards you. Maybe then you'll be more appreciative of the efforts I placed in giving you three a comparatively peaceful year."

Vaati turned his heel and walked a few paces away, calling to Dark and Zelda to follow. They gathered in a small circle a few yards away and spoke in hushed voices as they discussed their options. After a few minutes, they returned to where Dugal was standing confidently where they had left him. "We'll tell you the story. There's no need to blackmail us," Vaati muttered when he reached the man. "It would've been less suspicious if you hadn't threatened us in the first place."

Dugal grinned and he strutted over to one of the benches and sat down eagerly. "But if I hadn't done so then you wouldn't have agreed, given our history." He ushered them to sit down. "I would have invited you to talk over coffee, but I'm afraid this will have to do for now. I prefer to avoid overly public places for some time." The others sat down in the bench facing him. As soon as Vaati opened his mouth to speak, Dugal stopped him abruptly with a raised hand. "Before you begin, know that I won't tolerate missing or fabricated information. I have an idea on most of what had occurred thanks to trusted sources, so don't think you can trick me."

The sorcerer's lips flattened as he looked at the man with irritation. "If you know so much, then why ask us?" At this moment, Vaati wanted nothing more than to blast Dugal away with sorcery. He refrained, however, when he thought of all the complications that would come with murdering someone – ah, the nuisances of this era that never existed in the old one…

"Because I would like to hear everything firsthand from the people who know the most about it."

Vaati sighed, and next to him Dark whispered to Zelda how this was just as bad as reciting a story to a picky four-year-old. Finally, Vaati rolled his eyes and began reciting the story from the beginning. "It all started with that idiot Link…"

XXXXXXXXXX

Vaati and Dark returned home around five and they were grateful for the heat from the pizzeria ovens. When Dugal had asked for the full story he had wanted no details to be left out, which had resulted in them sitting outside in the winter weather for a considerable amount of time. They had expected him to dismiss the story on time travel, but to their surprise the man had taken it all in with little hint of disbelief. Surprise, maybe, but not disbelief: it almost seemed as though he had expected what they had told him. Once they had finished, he had said his thanks and had gone for "other business," leaving the teens wondering if that was really all there was to it.

Vaati shut his room and lay sprawled on his bed as he played around with shooting his pencils across his room with magic. He heard Gramps yelling something downstairs to Dark who was still working on his chores. Vaati, on the other hand, had finished early thanks to a little help with sorcery. Magic was so convenient. Sure it was difficult to master and it wasn't for everyone, but he sometimes wondered why it had almost completely died out in this age. Even jogging his memory of the past gave him no real clues since most of his recollection after he had cursed himself was fuzzy at best.

_Less competition for me,_ he thought with a grin.

Vaati thought of everything that had occurred, and the scale of the problem that he had caused for himself with that one stupid spell still daunted him. It was eight thousand years he had lost because he hadn't thought of how reincarnation could backfire. The pencil that was in the middle of its trajectory towards a piece of paper floating in midair stopped abruptly. _Oh crap… I wonder if I'll lose all of my memories again if I die now._

Vaati scratched his head and the objects floating in his room dropped to the floor. Well, it looked like he had a new project on his hands: he needed to figure out a way to keep his memories intact if he didn't want to go through that whole mess again.

Because, it felt nice to finally understand what had happened. For once, after eight thousand years, he felt at peace and content with life: he was loath to part with that feeling again if he could help it.

_From now on I'm Vaati,_ he picked up the pencil that had landed next to his head and snapped it in two with his fingers. Then, the pencil glimmered a faint blue with magic and it came back together as good as new. _My name is Vaati Engst._

_

* * *

_

fleets: Could this be, the FINAL CHAPTER? Nope. Sorry fellas, I still have one more to go so we're not quite done yet. What more can I possibly talk about, right? Well there was one thing I failed to resolve and it involves a certain dude with a purple tie... ;) **I'll be submitting the next chapter within a day or two because I don't want too much time to pass between this one and the next one, so watch out for that.**  
Also, I don't know if anyone noticed but that one scene with Vasheel and Link appeared briefly in one of Vaati's flashbacks at the Temple of Time ;)

**Shadow R-B: **I seriously considered having Vaati's demon form appear in the last chapter, but I couldn't figure out a way of putting it in without making the ending fights so repetitive (i.e. Vaati's demon form kicking butt)**  
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**Midna Hytwilian: **I'm feeling sad already since I'm practically done writing everything... but I'm also feeling relieved. I'm ready to start something new. Hope it's duckful to the end!**  
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**i-wish-799: **Fight scenes are hard to write, and I think that was the one I put my most time into. Couldn't forget about little Skull Kid there! :)**  
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**Vaati the wind mage1: **Aw, thanks. That makes me feel all fuzzy and happy. I'm going to be sad but relieved when this is completely done. Thanks for sticking through!**  
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**Sapphiet: **Ah I realized I skipped over Loze's reaction - it's implied he wasn't happy at all (especially with Dark's "new look"). **  
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**Reily96: **Skull Kid has a friend now, and a good one at that! Hopefully Link doesn't turn out to be a lame one... Ahhhh Terry Pratchett is my literature hero. I absolutely love the Patrician and Death WHO TALKS IN THE MOST EPIC WAY POSSIBLE. lol. They messed it up when they tried to make a TV series on the Hogfather... what a nono. Anyways, I saw it! And I can totally see those two behaving that way D:**  
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**Ephriokko: **One more chapter to go. The story itself is pretty much done with this chapter, but you can think of the next one as an Epilogue of sorts. It's coming super soon...**  
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**LinkxDark Link: **I think this version of Vaati has less issues than the other one. The other one was pretty insanified lol. Oh Dugal... we're not quite done with him yet.**  
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**xBlackDragoonx: **Desperate times call for desperate measures... that was pretty gruesome yeah. And only one more chapter left, and coming to a website near you in 1-2 days!**  
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**SubZeroChimera: **I didn't give him an easy victory, no. Not to mention he wasn't the one who finally put an end to things :P**  
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**LilyMoonstone: **Thank you for the reviews! Dugal is/was definitely alive, but he wouldn't have been able to simply jump out and survive at the speed he was falling (they probably would have hit terminal velocity from the height they fell from, and he would have been too close to the ground to be able to kill his speed enough to survive the jump. He had help, but wouldn't say what kind of help in this chapter) ;)**  
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**Vaati's Servant: **I'm a fan of anagrams, so there are some other names I might have tampered with to make them Zelda themed. For instance, Stan Willits was a kinda sorta anagram of Zant Twili (with additional letters stuck in between), and his Ganon obsessed fidgety character was based on how I saw Zant in Twilight Princess. Some of the fake town names (i.e. Ariko, Irdon High) are from little rearrangements of Zelda locations (i.e. Kak_ariko_, O_rdon_). :)**  
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**msfcatlover: **Ohhh, so that's what the peril beam is. I like that idea better and it makes more sense since Dark had taken quite a beating. Alright, peril beam it is! :D**  
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	29. Epilogue: Stolen Relic

fleets: told ya this update would come fast ;)  
This is _the_ final chapter. Forever.

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**Chapter 28: Epilogue – Stolen Relic **

"Now wasn't that an extraordinary tale?"

Two men in their early thirties were sitting inside a cozy office with a Victorian theme. The storyteller sat forward with his arms spread wide along the ebony desk, and he leaned forward dramatically as though he were aiming for the glint in his sharp edged glasses. His silk purple tie was tucked neatly into his new charcoal Canali suit, and a matching black glove covered his right hand. Halstead Dugal kept his eyes pinned on the other man sitting across from him as he waited for a reaction.

William Lesko, a man who appeared slightly heavyset in front of the sticklike Dugal, cleared his throat and tilted his head. His eyebrows were shot high on his forehead as he brushed back his messy brown hair. "Well Hal, you really took the 'extra' in 'extraordinary' to a whole new level," he replied, reaching over for his coffee mug.

Dugal frowned momentarily. "You know I don't like to be called that."

Lesko leaned backwards and took a sip of coffee as he looked at Dugal's right bionic arm. "I don't really know what to think of your story. You always did have a runaway imagination…"

"Well I might've exaggerated some details to make things more interesting, but I assure you nothing was fabricated." Dugal smiled.

Lesko sighed. He fiddled with the ring on his finger. "At least you're cheerful again," he gave his friend a long look, "and not in that frightening fake cheerfulness, mind you."

Dugal grinned cheerfully. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Though he rolled his eyes, Lesko smiled. Although Dugal kept to himself most of the time, Lesko was an old friend going back since high school and he knew more about the man than most people. Therefore, he was able to pick up how Dugal had been in a period of depression some time ago, and when he asked he had learned to his shock that his friend had lost his right arm in an accident.

Of course Dugal wouldn't tell anyone how he had lost it until today.

Dugal continued, talking with a light air and waving his left arm with enthusiastic animation. "Considering my losses, my involvement with Avilux I is not one of my proudest moments. I foolishly believed I could quiet the general world squabbling by granting enormous leverage to one company who seemed capable of putting the boot down. I would make sure I had enough influence to take it down if I didn't like the direction Mr. Ganon was taking things, and everything would have been grand." He laughed jovially. "At least that had been the plan - what a fool I had been."

Lesko immediately took on a look of disapproval. "I've said it more than once ever since you gathered Talon Three, but I'll say it again: you're too reckless." He ignored Dugal waving him off and continued. "One of these days you're going to take on more than you can handle. That's your biggest fault – your fantasies are too idealistic and unreasonable, and drastic to a ridiculous extent." Lesko drummed his fingers on his desk. "You're just like a child."

"… I'm offended."

"Only because it's true." Lesko quickly changed the subject. Though he was considered to be the former Talon leader's friend, that didn't mean he could continue taking the high ground over the dangerous man for long. "At any rate, how can you expect me to believe your story? Magical flying castles and goddesses… this is too fantastical."

All of a sudden, Dugal took on a more serious note and tapped his fingers on the desk. The prosthetic moved unnaturally even though he tried to hide his difficulty in using it, and it clunked against the wood. "Too fantastical?" he mused, "Then what do you make of that unidentified fireball that had appeared over Mt. Fuji a year ago? You remember the ruckus that caused, so I know you have heard something of it."

"A ruckus? It was, and still is, a huge mess!" Lesko exclaimed. "It's only recently that the authorities have released information on the facility that had been blown up in Mt. Omuro nearby, because the US didn't want the other countries to know about their possible involvement in this. America couldn't keep it hidden anymore because the other countries had launched an investigation of their own on the mysterious fireball, and the crater had had clues of a research facility owned by a company with heavy US ties." The scruffy man sighed and shook his head, thinking of all the political turmoil over the past year. "Everyone thinks it was an unknown weapon gone haywire. North Korea is beginning to prod China to get them to think that Japan was working with us to create a super weapon to attack the mainland, and existing Japan-China rivalry as well as the close proximity of the countries are making it easy for North Korea to increase the paranoia."

"And it's not just North Korea," Dugal added. "Everyone is pointing fingers at everyone since no one knows where the fireball came from."

"Yes… everyone is pointing fingers at everyone," the other man repeated in a murmur. "And just what is that fireball? From satellite images it looked like it could have been from a nuclear explosion, but that theory goes kaput when you see the fireball is mobile."

"Not to mention no radiation traces had been detected."

"No…" Lesko's shoulders heaved with a sigh. "It's an enormous mess."

Dugal smiled and shrugged. "And I'm here to tell you that the fireball was because of the Avilux I project – an ancient deity resurrected."

The other man looked at him flatly, but with less skepticism than before. Even so, there was one thing that Dugal had left out from his story that Lesko wasn't satisfied with, and it was preventing him from believing the story completely. He leaned forward and steepled his fingers under his chin. "Fine, but there's one thing about your story that makes no sense."

Dugal tilted his head to inquire.

"How did you survive that plane crash? From the way you've described it, you should be dead."

Dugal's eyes dropped briefly and then he gazed coolly at Lesko as though he were evaluating him. It lasted for a few long seconds, and Lesko was relieved when the scrutiny was over and Dugal came to a decision on something. The man with the purple tie suddenly hunched over and dropped his voice even though they were the only ones in the room, and his left hand strayed over to the edge of his jacket. "I demand utmost secrecy in this," Dugal began. His eyes narrowed and he gave Lesko a stern look. "Though I consider you to be my friend, if word of this so much as gets around, there's no knowing what might happen to you 'accidentally.' Even Kestrel and Hawk don't know about this."

The other man wasn't fazed by this comment; he was used to such threats from Dugal and he knew he would never be so stupid as to break his friend's trust. That would literally be the death of him. _What an awesome friend_, he thought a little bitterly.

When Lesko nodded, Dugal reached into his jacket and pulled out an object that was about as big as a can of soda. He placed it carefully on top of the desk, revealing it to be a blue-capped hourglass with glittering yellow sand. It could have been passed off to be something unremarkable, but the sand inside it was so bright and full of magical energy that it was evident the hourglass wasn't just any old hourglass.

"I was saved by this little treasure that I found at the palace in the sky," Dugal said as his fingers traced a circle on top of the hourglass. "I believe this is called the Phantom Hourglass from the obscure things I have read. This," he explained when the other man gave him a curious look, "has the ability to briefly stop time when I tip it over."

Dugal paused for dramatic effect, and he laughed when Lesko's eyebrows looked as though they were going to shoot off of his face. He continued after giving the other man time to process the information. "When the plane came close enough to the trees, I stopped time and jumped into a tree so I could climb down. Unfortunately, I overestimated how much time I had left, and time unfroze at a really bad time. The tail of the passing plane snapped the tip of the tree downwards and it went through my right hand… It was one of the bloodiest messes I've seen on my own person. On other people, perhaps, but me? Never."

"Oh…"

"Condor and Kestrel were thankfully nearby, so I was able to call for help before I blacked out." He watched Lesko stare at the hourglass disbelievingly, and he could tell his friend wanted to take a closer look at it from the way he fidgeted in his seat. Smiling, Dugal slid the object closer to himself – no one was going to get a close look at it. "I have a feeling there are more things like this hourglass in the world that are yet to be discovered. I plan on doing a little treasure hunting of my own." He picked up the hourglass. "And I have a feeling I may need the help of Mr. Engst again."

Dugal watched the sand swirl around in the glass when he tilted it side to side. _Mr. Engst… what a curious character you were. I'm positive we'll have dealings together again._

Smiling, he tipped the hourglass over on the desk.

* * *

fleets: It has been SO long since the first chapter of this story, but I would like to take a moment to say this:

_The speaker in the very first paragraph of the story is none other than Dugal who is speaking to Lesko in this chapter_.

Yeah... I planned wayway_way_ ahead for that one. It also means I never intended for Dugal to die ;)

Well folks, this story is finally over. I would like to give a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has stuck with this to the end and made it this far - although I enjoy writing simply for the sake of writing, it's you guys who make me feel exceptionally happy about it when I go to my homepage and see the little hit counter (means someone somewhere is reading) :)  
And all of those reviewers! Thank you sososo much for the various concrits and messages telling me what you liked about a certain chapter. Not only did they help me improve, many of them gave me smiles (yeah, I'm a sucker for reviews :P). I would really have liked to give a personalized thanks to each person like I did when I first wrote BC, but it has now become such a daunting task that I hope you forgive me when I leave you with this one general big **THANK YOU**. Hehe.

A few things - Avilux ends with a great setup for a sequel, but that doesn't mean I will be writing one. I'm just not feeling it, and when I don't whatever comes out of this keyboard is going to be painful to read (because it will most likely be painful to write). It kinda sucks since I can already see the intro to it (as you will see if you read the next chapter which is the "Previews" like I always do when I finish stories), and I'm fond of the intro. I'm just not too fond of the rest of it - if my feelings change, perhaps I'll write it.  
Also, there are a few things I'm not too happy about for this story, most of it having to do with the amount of major characters in this story. Looking back, I don't know if I was able to do each character enough justice since I had so many of them, and several times I felt as though there were too many things going on (unlike Beyond Centuries which only focused on two major characters). This led me to forget about certain characters who I initially had grand plans for (i.e. Willits, Zelda, and even Link). I now think I know how movie directors feel when they botch up by trying to stick too many things in one story.  
This isn't to say I didn't like AI 2010 ;) It's my story, of course I'm going to like it. I'm just critiquing my own kid, ya know? Tough love. :P

Which leads me to my next project - Rend! Whatever it was I was unhappy with Beyond Centuries will _hopefully_ be smoothed over in this revamp. I'll talk more about it on the "Previews" page (click the 'next' button on the bottom of the screen when you're done reading). Well, there are three possible stories and you'll get a taste of them in the "Previews": Rend, The Ornamental Girl, and National Threat. Dunno which one I'll be doing first.

As for the Phantom Hourglass - I did change its abilities a little (as in, in the games you couldn't stop time anywhere you wanted to, but I thought it would be cool if it could. So yes, I've taken a few liberties).

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**Midna Hytwilian: **Well it's still a happy ending. At least relatively happy compared to my other works haha. Thanks for sticking with me until the end, and sorry I'm rarely online (I don't really exist in the online world except through stories). **  
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**Sapphiet:** But if Link _did_ tell Vasheel what would happen to him in the future... well, I try not to think of all the time paradoxes that would make this story so complicated that I wouldn't be able to handle it lol. Yup, the first chapter and this chapter have the same titles except it's Vaati this time :). The disbanding of Talon Three will perhaps be mentioned in National Threat if and when I get to it (and that's a HUGE if, mind you). There is only one person in the story with a purple tie, and that is Dugal :P  
Thank you so much for supporting this story - it made me happy knowing someone enjoyed reading it :D

**Shadow R-B: **Who knows what happened to Vasheel (though I admit it _does_ have a good precedent for a sequel set in the past). You were right though - this chapter exists as a hook for a possible sequel, though I don't know if I'll ever write it (since I also believe it's good enough where it left off). I don't know - who knows what's going to happen in the future.  
Also, thank you for sticking with me for so long - knowing people are following this story was one of the reasons why I was able to keep going with so much enjoyment!**  
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**Vaati the wind mage1: **The government doesn't know the whole story, but they're becoming suspicious. And _that_ was how Dugal lived! :P**  
**I'm so glad you liked my story (well, at least up until this chapter anyways). Thank you for your continued support; it made me happy to know someone liked what I wrote :)**  
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**xBlackDragoonx: **At first I was going to keep Dugal with a stub and no prosthetic... that is until I read online this new research they were doing where someone had a bionic arm that actually worked. Then I thought "hmm, the super rich Dugal who's not against doing a few illegal things wouldn't just sit still with an empty stub of an arm." Hence Dugal with the bionic arm.  
Thank you so much for following this story! I'm thrilled to know that people enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. **  
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**Reily96: **Dugal lives! Since he was the speaker in the very first chapter, there was no way he could have been dead at the end of it :)  
And oh em gee, thank you big time for sticking with me from the beginning of not just this story, but pretty much my entire fanfic writing career. Big hugs my friend. **  
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**i-wish-799: **You're right, Dugal wasn't done at all.  
O.o; oops, I actually forgot about Vaati and Zelda. I didn't have a blatant coupling, per se, but you're right that it _was_ implied and that I probably should have mentioned something on it. I think I had a little idea for those two in National Threat, and then kept thinking about it so much that I tricked myself into thinking that I'd mentioned it in AI 2010. Oopsies.  
Like all my other loyal followers, thank you so much for your continued support. It made me really happy whenever I saw someone enjoy what I wrote, so I really appreciate it. :)**  
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**LilyMoonstone: **Well, there would be many problems with Zelda asking Vaati for help, one of them being he's only a high school student in the eyes of the scientific community. They would have a hard time proving to other scientists what magic is, and they would also have a hard time getting any scientific theories for the scholarly community that would make sense to them (because I don't think Vaati would be able to explain magic scientifically or empirically). Another problem would be Vaati being too lazy to get involved in all of that technical stuff and getting asked questions on where he learned how to do magic in the first place. It would be very messy indeed...  
I'm not sure I said this before, but thank you for all the reviews on all of my stories and I'm really happy you liked them. If you end up following any more of my works (if and when I do them), I hope you enjoy them as much as you have so far :)**  
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**SubZeroChimera: **Now it closes. Finally (or does it? Even I don't know, since I don't know if there is more to this story what with the sketchy ending and all). Glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for supporting me for so long! I wouldn't have been able to work as hard as I have for the story without people like you rooting for me, so thank you for that. :D**  
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	30. THE ALL EXCITING PREVIEWS LOL

fleets: Drum roll please! If you are looking at this very last page, I assume you are at least somewhat interested in what I have in store. There are three possible stories that I will pursue, and though I will be the one who will ultimately make the decision on which one to write regardless of public opinions, **I will be posting a poll to see which one people will most likely want to read**. Here are the following stories with some quick author's notes on them:

* * *

Rend will be the complete revamping of the story that started it all, the lengthy beginning of the Vaati saga Beyond Centuries: The Cursed Sorcerer as well as Beyond Centuries: Hero of Time, Hero of Winds. The new story will not be split into two parts like its predecessor, and it will most likely have a different flavor than the original. I don't think I will be able to recreate the same sort of humor since my writing has changed significantly since the last time I wrote Beyond Centuries, but that also means it will (hopefully) be a completely new experience.

The plot will be exactly the same, and you may recognize some of the dialogue (especially the ones with the best feedback from readers), but I'm going to try to change/add some things if possible. The following excerpt is a little preview to demonstrate how different this new version of Beyond Centuries will be; I wonder if any of you who've read the original story will recognize when the following preview takes place ;)

Here's to the new saga: Rend.

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**Preview: Rend**

As night fell, the once bustling streets of Hyrule Castle Town became hushed when people retreated to their homes. Even the late night stragglers who had spent most of their evening at the bars stumbled home to their wives, and the only movements on the cobblestone were the stray dogs that wandered around in search of scraps. It was an hour where people should have been asleep, but in one unpopular corner of Castle Town was a denizen fidgeting restlessly in his bed.

Here was the Greatest Sorcerer in the World, sitting with his legs crossed on top of a dinky little bed in a scanty room above a rather sketchy bar. Here was the Greatest Sorcerer in the World, his brows furrowed in irritation from having been ridiculed ceaselessly since this morning. Here was the Greatest Sorcerer in the World, forced to work together as well as share the Din damned room with the one person he wanted to destroy.

And here was the Greatest Sorcerer in the World with absolutely no sorcery at all.

Vaati scowled as he stared at his hands and willed the curse around his wrists to disappear. He let out a rapid string of spells in his seventy-eighth attempt to get rid of his curse, and for the seventy-eighth time all he got in response was a faintly glowing ring of blue runes that spun in the air around his wrists. He banged his fist into the sheets of his bed and let out a howl of frustration, causing the figure lying uncomfortably on the floor to move groggily.

"Vaati… can you please just shut up and go to sleep? It really sucks having to sleep on the floor, and you're not making the experience any better," Link mumbled unhappily. He was still upset that he had been forced to relinquish the comfort of sleeping in a bed when the sorcerer had called it first. Sharing the only bed in the room hadn't even been considered.

Huffing, Vaati simply growled and went back to glaring at the curse that prevented him from using magic. Like handcuffs for the magically gifted, the curse siphoned all of his magic any time he attempted to cast a spell. If he ever wanted to become the Greatest Sorcerer in the World once again, he needed to get rid of the curse.

And for him to get rid of the curse, he required the help of magic… which brought him full circle to the problem of not being able to use magic since that was the very nature of the curse. It was an outright stupid situation to be in, and he never felt more humiliated in his life.

Vaati plopped backwards onto the bed and glared angrily at the ceiling. He knew that he could probably get rid of the curse if he enlisted the help of another wizard, but he couldn't decide what scenario would hurt his pride more; tagging along with Link to catch the fool of a girl who would solve all of their problems, or begging another magical practitioner to help him out.

At least with tagging along with Link he could pretend he was keeping an eye on him so he could kill him later. If he asked another sorcerer or wizard to help him, how could he possibly keep his title as the Greatest Sorcerer in the World? It was embarrassing.

His eyes drifted over to Link who appeared to have finally fallen asleep with his head propped on top of a rolled up rug. How easy it was to end the green pest's life now…

Vaati smirked and then pulled the covers up over his shoulders. No, he could wait. For now, all of his energies were going to be directed towards finding a way to reach the girl who had caused all of his problems, even if that meant temporarily working together with his eternal enemy.

Once he returned to full power, however, he was determined the first thing he was going to do was to kill Link once and for all.

* * *

Once upon a time I received a request on a VaatixOC story that I wasn't sure I would ever tackle. I've never written a romance story before, so this one could be a terrific fail on my part or a surprising success. I don't really know where the plot is going to go, but at least I have a premise for the story.

So, we've heard in the intro of FSA or FS (I forget which one) that Vaati had, at one point, kidnapped a bunch of maidens around Hyrule if they struck his fancy. We never really know what happened to any of those maidens, nor what Vaati did with them (though we can speculate...). This story will be about one such maiden who was kidnapped, and her time in the Palace of Winds with the other maidens. She slowly learns to cope with the strict boundaries Vaati has set to physically and mentally control his captives, but will she be able to break free from his influence? Though I'm going to try my best to stick this to a T rating, it may have to be bumped up due to implied rape which will probably be included in the story with 85% certainty (I don't really know what constitutes M; just know that I won't write smut).

Even though this particular preview sounds like there won't be much romance involved, the story WILL be a romance story with the basis of how one can get screwed over from Stockholm Syndrome.

Well, that's all the info I have for this very vague story. This is The Ornamental Girl.

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**Preview: The Ornamental Girl**

The seventeen-year-old girl had been determined to put up the biggest fight of her life when she had been told she was going to be kept on the West wing of the evil sorcerer's flying palace. She had imagined holding one of the slender candlesticks like a weapon to beat down hordes of monsters as she broke out of the steel barred prison she would no doubt be placed in, and she had briefly wished she had long hair that would billow like a Valkyrie's instead of her brown short cropped ones. She had been set on making Vaati regretting ever kidnapping her.

Therefore, imagine her surprise when Wren found herself not in a steel barred prison, but a lofty rich hall and told she could roam wherever she pleased. The monsters that prowled about were few, and most of them were fire bubbles, floating flaming skulls, that pretty much ignored her. The only "monster" that seemed to be interested in her existence was a floating sentry eye that Vaati had summoned to follow her around, and for Wren it seemed no more dangerous than the rats she had killed back home.

The determined glitter in the girl's grey eyes faded away as she deflated. The sheer beauty of the palace wasn't helping her stay upset about her kidnapping. Scowling, Wren shook her fist, just barely punching the floating sentry out of the air. "Don't think for one moment I'm enjoying your grimy palace, you evil worm!" she shouted, knowing that Vaati could hear her wherever he was.

At that moment, she saw someone standing next to a pillar out of the corner of her eye. Wren whirled around and took a good look at where the person was standing; it was a girl around her age with long blond hair pulled back in braids. She was extremely gorgeous, with her perfectly sculpted nose and her full lips set in an attractive pout. Even her deep green eyes seemed like they could belong to the goddesses themselves. Wren stood frozen for a minute since she hadn't been expecting to meet any other girls in the Palace of Winds. "Um…" she uttered.

As soon as she had said something, the beautiful girl snapped her head away and stood stiffly as though she were trying to ignore her. Wren hesitated when the other girl gave her an unfriendly glance that made her feel unworthy of trying to speak to her. "Don't talk to me," the look stated. "Mind your own business." Her flowing lilac dress whipped behind her as she turned her heel.

At first, Wren had felt she, a plain girl whose appearance wasn't anything extraordinary, was unworthy of speaking to this gorgeous stranger. As time passed, however, her tomboyish upbringing pulled through and she became openly angry about the girl's cold shoulder. Demanding the blond to look at her, Wren stomped over to the other girl. "Hey! Do you have a problem with me?"

The other girl's reaction was not one that Wren expected. She gave a startled jump back and appeared genuinely afraid of Wren. Shielding herself with her arms, she squeezed her eyes shut and frantically tried to wave Wren away. "Stay back! Please, I am not allowed to talk to you!"

"… What?" Wren asked in surprise. The girl continued to back away in fright.

"Please, do not speak to me! If he finds out, then both of us will be in trouble."

"You mean Vaati? He doesn't scare me," Wren said, though truthfully she was worried about what he could potentially do to her. He was an extremely powerful sorcerer after all, and though she'd never been able to get a good look at him she imagined he was frightening.

The other girl backed against the pillar and hid her face behind her arms, flinching away from another sentry that floated around her as well. "You must be new so you don't know, but please," she repeated, "just go away." With that, the girl ran off to a different section of the palace, leaving Wren all alone with her sentry to go over her words.

Vaati, the Sorcerer of Winds, had kidnapped her. At first she had thought the disappearances of the most beautiful maidens of Hyrule to be a false rumor, but it appeared the stories were true after all.

Her tough persona broke as the full extent of her problems finally hit her. How could she hope to win against a terrible demon such as Vaati? She shuddered, imagining the most terrifying forms such an evil being must take.

This beautiful palace housed a vile creature, and she hoped she could avoid him for as long as she could. In her heart, however, she knew that she was going to have to meet him soon; a prey caught was rarely left alone for long.

* * *

Last but not least is National Threat. It picks up where AI 2010 left off and it will have a lot of OCs involved. It will also be one of the first stories without Link as one of the main characters (at least... I think for now. Who knows, things can change in strange ways). As mentioned in the final chapter of Avilux, Dugal has taken an interest in finding other treasures such as the Phantom Hourglass, and has been gathering information. Somewhere in the background, there's the problem of the world's higher powers taking an interest in what had happened in Japan - and just how did Talon Three become disbanded? And what the heck happened with Condor?  
Well, the most important thing I want you to get out of this is that this story is based on a "what if" scenario on what would happen if Vaati and Dugal ever worked together for the same thing.

Right now the problem is the huge "what if" that is dangling over my face - I honestly don't really know if I can handle imagining the two of them working together. Too many bad things can happen with not enough good things to balance everything out...  
Oh well. I really enjoyed writing this preview, to say the least. It's a huge jumbled mess, but then again AI 2010 was a huge jumbled mess when that plot bunny first appeared. Maybe I'll feel like it's appropriate to write this. Maybe I won't. Who knows? Anyways, hope you enjoy what little I have of this story. Here's to National Threat.

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**National Threat**

Two years after that fateful day of running into Link at Burger King, Vaati felt that his life was finally back to normal again. It was easier than before, especially since he was now a senior in high school and he also had the grace of magic to help him. He was inflicted with one of the worst cases of senioritis in school, and he was enjoying every minute of it.

Vaati had gotten used to having Dark around now that he was living with him, and less people were gossiping about how much he and darker Link had changed. Most of his time was spent lazing about as Gale had done, except now he would visit the Palace of Winds during his free time to fix up the place as well as search for ways to keep his memory intact during reincarnation. He still didn't want to think about what he would do if he found out that keeping memories after death was impossible… he'd worry about it when the time came.

Vaati reached into his pocket for his cell phone and checked the time. He still had plenty of time for lunch before his next class. Dark sidled past him with a half-bitten sandwich already in his hand. "Going out for lunch?" he asked. Dark didn't like either cafeteria food or fast food so he packed his own lunch from home. It was a very Japanese thing to do, and Vaati figured he had picked it up from his time there.

"Yeah. You want anything?"

Dark shook his head. "Nah."

"Alright. See ya."

Instead of walking towards the locker area or the cafeteria like most students, Vaati headed straight for the men's room and walked into one of the stalls. He made sure no one noticed him as he shut the door and he muttered a spell under his breath. In the blink of an eye, Vaati had vanished in thin air.

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The repugnant smell of garbage hit his nose as Vaati teleported next to the dumpsters behind the local Burger King. Before he had remembered how to use magic, he needed to make his way over on foot. Now he could go anywhere in an instant, and it was up to him whether or not he wanted to be late for class or impeccably on time. He strode around to the front of the building as though nothing was odd about a teen appearing out of the blue next to the dumpsters. If you looked confident enough, people rarely thought there was something odd about you and confidence was something Vaati had in abundance.

Vaati walked up to the register and placed his order.

"I would like to have a Whopper with a medium soda please."

"Is that all?"

"Ye-" Vaati hesitated. The woman at the register waited for him expectantly while wondering what was wrong. The sorcerer frowned, and continued. "Yes please…" he said slowly while his red eyes began to move around the room suspiciously.

"That will be $4.97."

Vaati paid for his food and he moved off to the side to wait for his food. He had a strange, uncomfortable feeling like the one he had experienced when he had first met Link here. It was as though someone was watching him, and it was someone he didn't particularly like.

It was then his eyes met another pair of hazel ones behind a set of black-rimmed glasses. Vaati froze, and he could feel dread looming over him. The other man was none other than the leader of the former Talon Three, and he looked ridiculously out of place in his expensive suit as he sat eating French fries while staring at Vaati with curiosity. Grinning, Halstead Dugal silently pointed at Vaati's order that had arrived.

Snatching his food with more force than necessary, Vaati was about to strut out of the building when a smooth voice stopped him. "Mr. Engst, a surprise to see you here," Dugal said with a laugh, not sounding too surprised at all. "Care to have a quick chat?"

"I need to go back to class," Vaati said curtly.

"Well, this is your lunch break, correct? I thought class didn't start for another forty-five minutes. We have plenty of time."

_What the freak, he knows my schedule?_ Vaati thought. Then, _But of course he would know my schedule._

Vaati slowly and resentfully made his way over to the table Dugal was sitting at. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared unpleasantly. "What is it now? What more do you want?"

"Nothing, Mr. Engst. We happened to meet on pure chance alone," the other man shrugged amiably. "I got sick and tired of McDonalds so I came here instead. This place has wonderful fries."

_Lies. You were trailing me._ Instead, Vaati gave the other man a flat look that clearly stated he didn't appreciate having to talk to him. "I hate their fries."

"Ah, to each his own." Dugal slid his food to the side of the table and cleared the area in front of him, careful not to stain any part of his suit. Then, his eyes took on a fishy glint. "Speaking of fries, do you know any way to avoid being fried by magical fire?"

Vaati stood up abruptly. "That's it, I'm leaving." He glared when he felt a powerful grip close around his wrist. It was Dugal's bionic arm, and it was like being restrained by hand cuffs.

"Sit down, Mr. Engst. Listen for a while before you decide you want to leave." Dugal was smiling cheerfully, but it was anything other than friendly. Eyes narrowed venomously, Vaati complied.

"Just skip the bullshit and get to the point."

An equally dangerous expression appeared on Dugal's face. "Indeed. I will get straight to the point." He adjusted his glasses and straightened his tie. "I found a temple as equally intriguing as your palace. I will relinquish thirty percent of whatever we find should you decide to help me." Dugal watched him carefully over the rim of his glasses. "Intrigued?"

Vaati stared at the other man for a really long time. A complicated debate went on in his head on whether or not to seize the opportunity to gain something out of this temple that no doubt was magical in nature. Would he allow himself to let Dugal or somebody else claim its secrets before him? Vaati scoffed. "You need my help. I take sixty-five."

"Thirty-five."

"Sixty."

"Forty and final.

"Fifty-five and final."

"… You don't seem to understand the concept of the word 'final.'"

"Neither do you, if you don't agree to my offer. You need my help more than I need yours."

Dugal glowered for a moment before he resumed his cheerful façade. "Deal."

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fleets: Don't forget to vote on the poll on my homepage! And thank you again for reading this far! :D


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